castle for sale Giraumont, France

In Lorraine, less than an hour from Luxembourg City, a medieval chateau on 33 hectares of woodlands. Hidden from view, the entrance to the property is accessible via a small track, located below a quiet road. This leads to a stone bridge preceding a fortified castle gatehouse from the 15th century with a Gothic arch located at a right angle to the outbuilding. The grand courtyard overlooks a vast vegetable garden, of approximately 2,000 m2, enclosed by high walls and decorated with a stone pond. A porch, preceded by a stone bridge spanning a portion of the former moats, leads to the chateau located at the back of the courtyard, as well as the orangery, an outbuilding and three terraced gardens. To the right of the chateau, the panorama looks out over a pasture and woods of approximately 30 hectares where a small river flows. They include several rare trees, black walnut, copper beech, tulip tree, gingko biloba, sequoia and a three-century oak tree remarkable for its circumference and where, it is said Napoleon once camped under. Unfortunately, the majority of the property's archives disappeared during World War I, but the first documents mentioning the property date from 1055, making a reference to a donation of abbatial land with a mill from the Abbey of Gorze, while the first mention of a feudal castle appears in 1288. Transformed during the Renaissance, it was attacked and pillaged in 1635 by the French, then the enemy of the Dukes of Lorraine, and by the Swedish the following year. The restoration of the fiefdom started in 1680; the gardens and terraces were created in 1702. The estate has not undergone any significant modifications since the end of the 18th century. The grounds and gardens, walls, bridges, façades and roofs are all listed Historical Monuments since 1996.