- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1997 · 20th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
- Architect
- Jacques Moulin
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 47.5833°, 3.1558°
History
Guédelon is not a medieval building: work began in 1997 on the initiative of Michel Guyot, owner of the nearby Château de Saint-Fargeau, and Maryline Martin. The aim was to raise from scratch a fortress of the kind built in the reign of Philip II Augustus, using only the techniques and tools of that age. The project's scenario has a fictional knight receiving permission to build in 1228. Stone is cut from an on-site quarry, timber comes from the surrounding forest, and clay, sand and lime are sourced nearby. Stonemasons, carpenters, blacksmiths and other craftspeople do the work with advice from historians and archaeologists, and every stage tests how building was really done in the Middle Ages.
What to see
The building site is open to visitors, who can watch the craftspeople at work and talk to them. Masons dress blocks of sandstone, blacksmiths forge tools, and loads are lifted by wooden cranes powered by people walking inside treadwheels. Around the castle are the workshops of weavers, rope makers, potters and tile makers, a water mill and gardens of plants grown in the Middle Ages.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q1557685
Popularity: articles about this site in 21 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).