Château de Lavardin, Medieval fortress in Lavardin, France.

Château de Lavardin is a ruined fortress on a rocky promontory above the Loir, built on three rock platforms cut in the Middle Ages. Its 26-metre rectangular keep, reinforced by three towers, rises above broken curtain walls with cannon embrasures. Below, a 12th- to 15th-century châtelet with machicolations guards the first level, where a troglodytic kitchen with a baker's oven is cut into the rock.

The fortress was founded in the 11th century by the lords of Lavardin and grew into a major stronghold under the control of the counts of Vendôme. In the 16th century it was deliberately destroyed and subsequently abandoned.

The castle chapel's crypt and the ceremonial hall vaults carry the arms of the Bourbon-Vendôme family, and a niche for oil lamps is decorated with three carved masks. Above the keep door are the arms of Jean VII of Bourbon-La Marche, count of Vendôme from 1372 to 1393. On the arch supports, visitors can make out the armorial bearings of Louis II d'Anjou and of Alix de Bretagne, countess of Vendôme.

Visitors can walk through various sections of the ruins, from the gatehouse to residential quarters and ramparts offering valley views. Accessibility varies with seasons and weather, so visitors should be prepared for uneven ground and worn stone surfaces.

The keep rises 26 metres above the village and the Loir. In its south-west tower a narrow dungeon could only be reached through a well. The site also holds a troglodytic kitchen cut into the rock, with a baker's oven, on the first level near the châtelet.