France is renowned for its châteaux, grand estates and stately homes, often converted from older medieval structures. In the Middle Ages, castles were designed for war, not aesthetics or pleasure. Medieval castles are massive, with towers, battlements, bastions, embrasures, gates or barbicans, drawbridges, a keep, as well as a moat if the castle is on flat ground.
Owing to their military function many medieval castles have been destroyed in wars, or abandoned once their usage had become superfluous. This page gathers photos of the best preserved and most beautiful castles of France.
Haut-Koenigsbourg, Alsace
Castelnaud-la-Chapelle Castle, Aquitaine
Roquetaillade Castle, Aquitaine
Bonaguil Castle, Aquitaine
Castelnau-Bretenoux Castle, Midi-Pyrénées
Montbrun Castle, Limousin
Tarascon Castle, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Sully-sur-Loire Castle, Centre
Castle of the Dukes of Anjou in Angers, Pays de la Loire
Castle of the Dukes of Normandy in Caen, Lower Normandy
Castle of Falaise, Lower Normandy
Castle of the Dukes of Brittany in Suscinio, Brittany
Josselin Castle, Brittany
Castle of the Dukes of Rohan in Pontivy, Brittany
Fougères Castle, Brittany
Vitré Castle, Brittany
Langeais Castle, Centre
Loches Castle, Centre
Foix Castle, Midi-Pyrénées
