Donjon de Vez

The keep of Vez is the name usually given to the castle of Vez, a French fortress of the XIV th century located at Vez in the department of Oise. The keep itself was built between 1390 and 1410 by Jean de Vez and probably his brother-in-law Robert de Saint-Clair, himself having remained without descendants. It never belonged to Louis d'Orléans or to a member of his family, but Jean de Vez was his chamberlain and obviously called upon an architect from the royal or ducal entourage, probably Jean Lenoir. The keep has a pentagonal plan with four habitable floors, and its only defensive elements are the machicolations on the edge of the summit terrace. It is located on the edge of a vast fortified enclosure, partly contemporary, partly later, and built on older foundations. In its center, there is a chapel from the same period as the castle and the ruins of the dwelling from 1360 / 1390. There is nothing left to remind us of the first castle, which was probably built at the end of the 13th century and burned down during the Great Jacquerie in 1358. - When the entrepreneur and geologist Léon Dru bought the castle in 1890, it was partially ruined. He undertook its restoration in a very radical way influenced by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and then died in 1904. In that same year, the castle was classified as a historical monument by order of June 13. More recently, at the end of the 20th century, its owners restored the castle again, and it has since been used as a setting for contemporary artistic works: sculptures, paintings and stained glass.