Château de la Guyonnière, Medieval fortified castle in Beaulieu-sous-Parthenay, France.

Château de la Guyonnière is a 14th-century fortified castle forming a quadrilateral with corner towers, one housing a dovecote. It is entered through a fortified gate. The structure is built of rough grey and brown stone, with a tall tower under a steep slate roof and a pointed archway at its base. A tall brick chimney stack rises above a slate roof, and two angled timber beams project above the archway.

The castle dates from the 14th century and was remodelled in the 15th and 16th centuries, keeping a markedly feudal appearance. It forms a quadrilateral flanked by towers and is entered through a fortified gate. The castle, its moats and its chimneys were inscribed as a monument historique on 4 March 1986.

One of the corner towers holds a dovecote, a mark of the seigneurial right to keep pigeons. The gardens below carry the medieval theme further: a clos des abeilles with four hives rebuilt after a 15th-century illumination, and a clos des fêtes with a basin, a turf bench and a planted stage where musicians and storytellers perform from May to September.

From 1 June to 13 July and 20 August to 30 September, mornings from Monday to Thursday are reserved for groups, while individuals are admitted Thursday midday and Friday to Sunday, with a free guided visit from 10am to 12pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm. Guided tours are available year-round by appointment. The gardens are reached by a working pedestrian drawbridge through the passage between the castle and its stables.

The contemporary gardens span one hectare divided into nine thematic sections featuring medicinal plants, vegetables, and fruit trees. These modern green spaces provide an appealing contrast to the castle's centuries-old walls.