Château de Clisson

Again, one of the really cool things about my job is the flexibility it gives me in choosing when and where I want to go. I'd been wanting to visit the Château de Clissonfor a while now, but just hadn't had the time. I have a customer about 20 minutes away, so I decided to try out a new hotel and stay one night in the city of Clisson. I was lucky enough to finish up at a decent time, so I checked into the hotel and then headed straight over to the château. This was the first thing I saw:
I decided to walk all the way around and check out the outside first, and ended up being surprised by how enormous it was. The other noticeable thing was how it seemed to be several châteaux in one.
Wikipedia says the first mention of the château is back in 1040, in reference to the great border strongpoints of the Duke of Brittany (a good chunk of the Loire Valley was actually part of Bretagne up until the French Revolution). The majority of the château was built in the 13th century and the keep was added in the 14th century.
Some more modifications were carried out in the 15th century to make way for artillery, and at the end of the 16th century, three more towers were added for further fortification.
And then the whole thing was purchased by the region in 1964 and they've been working on restoring it ever since. It's really quite incredible that something built almost 1000 years ago is still standing today. I'm always amazed by the architectural prowess people had back then, without all the computers and fancy doo-dads we have today. Though a lot of is thanks to the French government and their willingness to protect and preserve these sites. The amount of money they spend each year on the restauration and upkeep of places such as this is absolutely incredible - but so totally worth it if it means these things will still be around for others to enjoy another 1000 years from now!