THE CASTLE OF THE GARRISON
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This castle, rich in history, is one of the oldest in the Vendée region, with its six semi-circular towers.
This castle, one of the oldest in the Vendée, was one of the strongholds of the Bas-Poitou. The first known lords are Gauthier and Goscelin, in 1055. Pierre, son of Goscelin, is the first of the six Pierre de la Garnache who succeeded each other from 1070 to 1214. Two lords, Olivier IV and Olivier V de Clisson, were also lords of la Garnache at the same time. A companion of Du Guesclin, Olivier IV de Clisson was married to Jeanne de Belleville, owner of La Garnache. Olivier IV was hanged in 1343 for his alliance with the King of England during the Hundred Years War. His son Olivier V succeeded him. Olivier's daughter, Béatrix de Clisson, married Alain VIII de Rohan: the lordship of La Garnache thus passed into the hands of the Rohans in 1408 until 1644. René de Rohan, owner of the castle in the 16th century, married Isabelle d'Albret in 1535, daughter of King Jean de Navarre, great-aunt of Henri IV, which brought Protestantism to the region. During the night of October 4 to 5, 1588, Henry of Navarre, future Henry IV, slept in the castle. In 1622 Louis XIII ordered the destruction of the castle. We are in the middle of the religious war. Protestants try to take refuge in La Garnache. Louis XIII ordered the dismantling of the castle. Covered with domed slates, the prison tower, five stories high, was used as a lighthouse for ships coming to get salt. The 230 m of ramparts of the enclosure date from the second half of the 15th century. Of the six semicircular towers of the time, only two remain.
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