Château des Ducs de La Trémoille
The Château des Ducs de La Trémoille (English : Castle of the Dukes of La Tremoille) is located in Thouars in the Deux-Sèvres "département" of France and was built in the 17th century. It is located on a strategic defense point -a promontory above the Thouet river- and consists of the main building, an inner court, an orangery, a chapel and a stable. History. The first known reference to the city of Thouars is dated 762, in a document describing how a fortress was taken and then razed to the ground by Pepin the  Short. Later reconstructed -it is regularly mentioned from the 10th century- the castle was again partially destroyed in 1158 by Henry II of England coveting the lands of Thouars's viscounty which would be an important stronghold during the Hundred Years' War. A surrounding wall itself included in the city wall was added to the dungeon at the end of the 12th century. Unfortunately no pictures of the different castles from this period are available. After belonging to the House of Amboise, then being annexed to the royal domain by Louis XI of France, the viscounty was given to the  house of La Trémoille in 1489 that were made dukes later by Charles IX of France. Gabrielle de Bourbon, wife of Louis II de La Trémoille ordered the construction of the chapel built between 1503 and 1509 which is still visible today. The chapel is of flamboyant gothic style for the lower part and influenced by Italian Renaissance for the upper gallery and was designed by several architects including André Amy and Jean Chahureau. It was designated as a collegiate church in 1515 by the Pope Leo X and hosted a relic of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The orangery . Construction work on the orangery started in the year 1657 under the direction of Jacques Cornesse. Account books attest this from the year 1658 including delivery of material for the construction. The orangery consisted of a rectangular building with a slate roof and was completed in 1659. In 1692 the Duke Charles Belgique Hollande de La Tremoille started an extension of the gardens that was terminated in 1705. It is reported in the 1790 inventory that the orangery was host to 182 tree saplings. The facade of the orangery is 66m long and is surrounded by two staircases. Some  hypotheses have been made about links with the royal orangery of Versailles or the orangery of Meudon designed by Louis Le Vau due to style similarities, although none have been confirmed by a written source.