Château d'Ancenis, Medieval castle in Ancenis, France

Château d'Ancenis is a fortress on the Loire in Ancenis, Loire-Atlantique. Its gatehouse, built between the late 14th and early 16th century, joins a taller dwelling with pale rendered walls and dark steep roofs to a broad curved rampart of rough grey stone topped by a crenellated parapet. An arched wooden gateway framed by a carved crest sits between them. The Renaissance house was begun around 1529 by Claude I de Rieux and Suzanne de Bourbon.

Aremburga, widow of Duke Guerech of Brittany, founded the castle around 984 as a motte-and-bailey with a moat and palisade; a plaque names Guerech as builder, which documents do not support. Its Loire position drew sieges between the 12th and 16th centuries, and in 1488 Charles VIII ordered its demolition. Richelieu had it dismantled in 1626, and the moats were filled in 1840 and 1850.

The Renaissance house was begun around 1529 by Claude I de Rieux and his wife Suzanne de Bourbon. Its courtyard facade carries decoration of the first Renaissance while the structure itself remains Gothic. The building later passed to the Fouquet family, whose name is attached to the dwelling called "logis de Marie Fouquet".

The castle grounds are open daily from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM, with the park accessible at no charge. The Renaissance building can be visited during exhibition events, so checking in advance for current activities is worthwhile.

The gatehouse, built between the late 14th and early 16th century, combines a drawbridge set in a chicane with a bent vaulted gallery closed by a portcullis. Excavations in the 1950s found cannonballs at the site, evidence of the sieges the castle endured between the 12th and 16th centuries.