posted on 2017-06-30, 00:00authored byG. Massiot & cie
The castle was built on a spur overlooking the valley of the River Ailette between Soissons and Laon. A colossal feudal fortress, strongly fortified by the lords of Coucy, who were rich enough in territory and alliances to erect an extraordinary building , it commands the lines of approach from ca. 10 km in every direction. The complex visible today, castle, outer bailey and walled town, was built by Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy, between 1225 and 1242. At the four corners are cylindrical towers 20 m in diameter (originally 40 m in height). The donjon (keep) was the largest in Europe, measuring 35 meters wide and 55 meters tall. It was renovated by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th. In 1917, the German army dynamited the keep and the four towers using 28 tons of explosives.
History
Alt Title
Château de Coucy
Date Created
1910-01-01
Date Modified
2017-06-30
Spatial Coverage
Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique
Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, Picardy, France
+49.521667+3.318611
Temporal Coverage
before or circa 1910
Cultural Context
Medieval
Rights Statement
To view the physical lantern slide, please contact the Architecture Library.