CASTLE OF SILLÉ-LE-GUILLAUME

The seat of an ancient barony of the Haut-Maine region, the château was built in the ^15th century on the ruins of an ^11th-century fortress. Its impressive quadrilateral shape is flanked by towers at each corner, with the huge machicolated tower dominating the town with its imposing mass. Guillaume, vassal of the Count of Maine and founder of the feudal house of Sillé, built the first fortress to defend the town from Norman and Breton invasions. It remained in the same family until the French Revolution. In the ^15th century, Gilles de Rais, Joan of Arc's loyal comrade-in-arms and an infamous cousin of the de Sillé family, often came to help fight the English. A little behind the times, Baron de Sillé decided to build a powerful keep, which was never used. In 1684, Louis XIV acquired the château and offered it to his illegitimate daughter, the Princesse de Contie, known as Madame de La Vallière. It was the Renaissance that gave the imposing château its more peaceful character, with the construction of new wings. The château hosts temporary exhibitions and pays tribute to two important figures from Sillé, the painter Arsène-Marie Lefeuvre (1863-1936), famous for being the "father" of the Bébé Cadum, and Léon Besnardeau (1829-1914), a modest paper merchant and bookseller who nevertheless invented the illustrated French postcard. A dramatized tour is offered for families on Wednesdays in summer.