Château de la Johannie

The Château de la Johannie is an historic castle in Curemonte, Corrèze, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.

Château de la Johannie
Map

Toponymy edit

Johannes is the latin form of Jean or John and is named after the original owner or the house of Jean.[1]: 135 

History edit

It was built circa 1308 on an old house built in 1083.[2] It belonged to Hugues de Jean in the 14th century.[2][3] It stayed in the Jean family (later known as the Johannie family) until 1498, when it was acquired by Vassal family, who owned 1/7th of Curemonte.[3] Marguerite de la Johannie had married Pierre Vassal in 1460 who was the Lord of Tourette nearby in Betaille.[1]: 137 

It was acquired by Mathurin le Brun on 11 March 1623 after the widow of Jacques de Vassal, Marguerite de Belcastel de Campaniac and nephew Jean Vassal sold it.[3][1]: 137  Then it was acquired by the d'Ambert family when Antoine d'Ambert married Agathe le Brun in 1594.[3][1]: 137  It was acquired by the Plas family in 1693 who resided next door at Châteaux de Saint-Hilaire et des Plas.[3]

In 1830, the descendants of the Plas family left Curemonte, and Chateau de la Johannie was now in the hands of the Escaravage family which held it until 1971.[1]: 137  It was then purchased by the Bescançon family as a second home and kept it until 1988 when it was purchased by the Pierre Wack family.[1]: 137 

Architecture edit

This house consists of two wings.[1]: 136  A square stair tower located at the centre of the two wings houses with a spiral staircase that serves the two buildings.[1]: 136  The buildings had defensive machicolation's or loopholes at roof height, but they were removed in the past.[1]: 136  The main entrance door, above ground level, would have been accessed by a wooded staircase and deck in the past.[1]: 136  The windows become larger as the height above the ground increase.[1]: 136  On the east side, there is a carved window.[1]: 136 

It has been listed as an official monument since 1981.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lale, Jean (1994). Curemonte. Chronique d'une Renaissance (in French). Naves: Les Mondedieres. ISBN 2903438.11-X. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  2. ^ a b c Base Mérimée: Château de la Johannie, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  3. ^ a b c d e Annick Tulasne-Moeneclaey, Les châteaux de Corrèze, Paris : Nouvelles éditions latines, 1997, p. 19 [1]

45°00′00″N 1°44′33″E / 45.0000°N 1.7425°E / 45.0000; 1.7425