New castle being built using medieval techniques

Michel Guyot, owner and restorer of Saint-Fargeau castle in Yonne, is the man behind this idée folle.

In 1979, Michel's, and his brother Jacques', childhood passion for historic buildings brought them to buy Saint-Fargeau castle for a few thousand francs. Back then, the castle was in a state of near dereliction: miles of roofing to repair, the roof timbers in dire need of attention, the walls cracking. In order to raise funds for the restoration work, the brothers enlisted the help of the local community and staged a grand scale re-enactment of the castle's history. Over the last 20 years the money raised from these performances has saved Saint-Fargeau castle.

It was the archeological study, ordered by Michel Guyot, and carried out by a team of medieval experts, architects and archeologists, which brought to light the 13th century castle buried within the red brick walls of Saint-Fargeau. It was this discovery which inspired the idea of building a castle, using medieval techniques, in order to better understand how builders really worked in the 13th century.