Marie V and Le Château de Brézé

In the heart of the Loire Valley is a fascinating Chateau, under a Chateau.

The Château de Brézé is one of the most unique castles in the world, as it is just as spacious and glorious under the ground as it is over the ground.

Very close to the Saumur region, the Château de Brézé is situated on a steady slope, today surrounded by vineyards. At a distant glance, this imposing building looks to be a dry-moated castle. But at a closer look in fact the moat is simply a deep dug-out foundation of the castle, almost forty meters down.

The Château de Brézé's first foundations would have been laid around the 12^th century. It still has a few medieval features such as a drawbridge, but it was mostly transformed over the 16^th and then 19^th centuries.

In the 12^th century as the foundations were being lain, troglodyte caves were also being built, or dug out. The idea behind these underground caves was for two main reasons. Number one, the limestone was quarried to build the castle, and number two the dug-out holes or caves became protecting homes for the occupiers of the castle and further afield.

The caves and underground basements were so extensive the entire surrounding villages could take refuge during an attack. This is why the Château de Brézé is dubbed a castle under a castle. It is rumoured that there is at least 3 kilometres of troglodyte passages, only 1.5 kilometres have been reached, the other half is too dangerous to currently access and potentially lost after stones have collapsed etc.

One of the unique aspects of the extensive troglodyte caves is the 'well of light'. Hidden from intruders eyes, were several wells dug into the limestone rock. Meters below the surface laid the troglodyte caves, and these dry wells would provide light into the caves for living and more. The well into the caves was carved in a certain way to all light to penetrate, but for any intruders to be unable to enter through the well. 'Murder holes' were carved out of the rock, creating traps which often meant certain death for the intruder. The intruder could drop down into the well, but find themselves trapped in a cage-like hole. By the time he would have dug his way into the cave, the dwellers would have been armed and ready for attack.

Also, rather impressively, is the working kitchen and bakery. Still forty meters underground, a large chamber is dedicated to making bread and preparing simple meals. A chimney above ground leads down to the bread oven where over 100kilos of bread would be made on a daily basis for the castle inhabitants and surround villagers. Today this troglodyte kitchen is used for workshops teaching children how to bake bread, but the bread oven, the yeast chamber and the medieval cabinets are still very much in use.

There was also a 'freezer', deep in the chambers of quarried limestone a freezer was dug deeper below the ground. In the winter months blocks of ice were regularly brought from rivers and snowfields and would keep the pantry cool. Although the troglodyte caves are always a steady chilly 12 degrees all year round.

Lastly and most impressively is the wine making facilities. This castle would have had to produce masses of wine for the occupants, the cardinals, the villagers and further afield. Until the late 1980's the winery was still in use with traditional processes. They would keep the wines in oak barrels of around 2500 litres each.

The Château de Brézé still produces red wine and 'crement' which is a form of sparkling wine. The red wine is very light and slightly fad. It's a wine I would recommend, however they also make 'crement rouge'; sparkling wine made from red grapes, and this is rather good for an aperitif!

I hope you enjoyed this read, it's rather an intriguing one!

Marie V