Château de Machecoul

Pays de la Loire · Frankrike · Castle ruin

Cries are said to rise from the ruins by the Falleron at night — Gilles de Rais, the model for Bluebeard, held court in this castle.

The country around Machecoul tells of cries in the night by the river Falleron and of a dark presence among the broken walls that has never lifted. The legend has a name: Gilles de Rais. Joan of Arc's brother-in-arms became one of history's most infamous child murderers and the model for the fairy-tale Bluebeard, and according to the trial records of 1440 it was here, in his own castle, that he tortured and killed children and sought pacts with the Devil.

The shattered thirteenth-century castle was one of his principal seats. Much of it was pulled down after his execution that same year, but the legend has never released what remains — Machecoul counts among the eeriest places in western France.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Château de Machecoul?

Château de Machecoul ligger i Pays de la Loire, Frankrike.

Image: Melutopia / CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons