Château d'Oricourt

About

The Château d'Oricourt is a castle in the commune of Oricourt in the department of Haute-Saône, in the Franche-Comté region of France. The original castle on the site was a feudal motte built in wood. The present castle was built during the 12th century on the edge of a plateau, facing the Lure plain, the Château d'Oricourt is a double-walled castle. The outer wall enclosed the farm and the inner wall the residential courtyard. In the latter are a collection of buildings from the 12th and 15th centuries, including the well, a cistern, bakery, cellars and a grand dining room. Two square towers, 25m (~81 ft) high, dominate the curtain walls and deep ditches. Outside, on the village side, an imposing pigeon loft has been built. The original owners, the Gaucher family, added "d'Oricourt" to their name. Gaucher d’Oricourt was constable to the count of Burgundy was the lord of Oricourt around 1170. Around 1250, the Vaire family occupied the castle. In 1435, during the Renaissance period, the castle came into the ownership of Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, who was immortalised by Van Eyck in the painting The Virgin with Chancellor Rolin (Paris, Louvre). His son, Guillaume Rolin, took possession in 1462; it was probably Guillaume who had the tasteful residence built against the north curtain. One of the windows is decorated with a mask of Nicolas Rolin. On Guillaume's death

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.