Apremont Castle

Apremont Castle - Château d'Apremont, Apremont, Vendee, lands of the Loire, French Republic.

The Château d’Apremont was built on a rocky promontory overlooking the La Vie valley, in the commune of Apremont, located in the Vendée department of the Pays de la Loire region.
Apremont is one of the earliest Renaissance-era châteaux in the Vendée. It stands on the site of an 11th-century medieval fortress, remnants of which can still be seen in parts of the ramparts. The entrance portal still bears traces of a drawbridge.
The château was constructed between 1534 and 1542 by order of Philippe Chabot de Brion, Admiral of France and a childhood friend of King Francis I. Its architecture incorporates various elements of the medieval style. Notably, a passageway known as the "vaulted gallery" (*galerie voûtée*) was carved directly into the underlying shale bedrock—a feature unique in France. In 1622, King Louis XIII stayed at Apremont while returning from the Battle of Riez.
In 1733, the Count d’Olonne, Charles-Paul-Sigismond de Montmorency-Luxembourg, ordered the demolition of the structure, as the cost of its upkeep had become prohibitively high. The château was partially dismantled, and its stones were sold as building materials—some of which were used in the construction of the Pirmil Bridge in Nantes.
Today, the château is owned by the local municipal council and stands as a premier example of architecture in the Vendée. A permanent exhibition has been installed within the chapel, tracing the entire history of the château through video presentations and an "optical theater."
Apremont has been classified as a historical monument since 1926 and is currently open to the public.