Chateau Gaillard

Richard I built Chateau Gaillard between 1196 and 1198, extraordinarily fast for a castle of its size, on a chalk spur above a loop of the Seine to block the French route into Normandy; he is said to have called it his fair daughter. It used ideas Richard had seen on crusade, including a concentric plan and a keep with machicolations, among the earliest in Europe. Philip Augustus besieged it in 1203, took it in March 1204 after his men entered through a latrine chute, and Normandy fell to France within months. Henri IV ordered it dismantled in 1599. The ruin stands above the river with a wide view along the valley.

What you actually see

• The keep - the inner tower with early machicolations.
• The concentric plan - layered defences on the chalk spur.
• The Seine loop - the river bending far below the walls.
• The siege ground - the approaches Philip Augustus attacked in 1203.

When to go

April to October; the inner keep is open seasonally, roughly spring to autumn, while the outer site can be walked year-round. The view is best in clear weather.

Honest expectations

The castle is a ruin, deliberately slighted, so little stands to full height. The keep has restricted seasonal opening. The climb from Les Andelys is steep.

Nearby

Giverny lies southeast; Rouen is northwest.