The Château de Coussay has a rich history.

It dates from the XVIth century, between 1518 and 1521. It was Denis Briçonnet, prior of Coussay and bishop of Saint-Malo, who decided to build a hotel on the priory that had existed since the 9th century, and make it his home. Briçonnet spent several years in Italy, notably as ambassador extraordinaire of King François I to Pope Leo X. He thus saw cities transformed and sublimated by the Italian Renaissance, which had reached its apogee in the previous century. So he made his home an Italian villa, but built on a 15th-century castle-tower and surrounded by a moat. The prieuré de Coussay thus became one of the first French Renaissance châteaux.

After the Revolution, the château changed ownership many times and was somewhat abused, serving for example only as a farmhouse and barn for farmers for most of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, the château was bought by a notary from Mirebeau, who undertook work to restore the building. In 1949, the château’s facades and roofs, the moat and its corner turrets, and Richelieu’s oratory were classified as Monuments Historiques. Today, the château is still owned by the same family, and major work on the moats and the building (in particular, repairing the roof frames, roofs and windows) has been carried out since 1986.

Open all year

The Château is visible all year round by walking around the outside of the water moat (on a private road open to the public).
Guided tours of the interior are organized on Heritage Days or at other times of the year, for groups, by appointment.