Castle of Ô
Château d’Ô
A Château Built on Water
Built on the ruins of an ancient fortress, the château d’Ô is a fairytale castle in the centre of a lake, its Renaissance turrets delicately pointing to the sky.
In the twelfth century, the village of Mortrée in the Orne was at a strategic point on the frontier between the plain of Argentan and the Bocage of Normandy. Long periods of war alternated with times of peace in Normandy, so the nobleman Robert d’Ô constructed a fortress on an islet at a broad point in the Thouanne river, where it would be surrounded by a wide stretch of water on all sides. Robert d’Ô also accompanied the first Duke of Normandy on crusade to the Holy Land.
Destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years War, the fortress was rebuilt after 1449 by Jehan d’Ô in Gothic and Renaissance styles, the whole structure built on piles driven into the boggy islet. At the rear two round towers flanked the main building.
In the sixteenth century Francis d’Ô completed main building work by adding the two wings of the castle, one of which is an example of Henri IV style.
visitnormandy.wordpress.com
