Château de Fervaques, Historical castle in Livarot-Pays-d'Auge, France.
Château de Fervaques stands on the left bank of the Touques in Livarot-Pays-d'Auge. The main late-16th-century logis, built of stone and brick, is flanked by two pavilions; its facade is in bossage. A square tower, a porterie with machicolations and a drawbridge, and a partly preserved dovecote survive from the older manorial complex.
Guillaume de Hautemer, born in 1538 and later maréchal de Fervaques, companion of Henri IV, had the present château built at the end of the 16th century on the site of his ancestors' Gothic manor, whose logis partly survives. The mason François Gabriel, an ancestor of the Gabriel line who had worked at Château de Carrouges, carried out the construction from 1595 to 1602. Henri IV is thought to have stayed here around 1590 during the siege of Lisieux.
The château takes its alternative name, château le Kinnor, from the Kinnor association, which has held it since 1982 and runs it as a centre welcoming disabled and non-disabled people. The name refers to the Hebrew lyre, an instrument of King David. The estate also carries the name domaine de Fervaques, after the former commune on whose land it stands.
Access is from the west of the former commune of Fervaques, along a long tree-lined avenue; the poterne is reached after crossing the Touques on a fixed bridge. The castle now belongs to the Kinnor association, which runs it as a centre welcoming disabled and non-disabled people, so the grounds are not a standard tourist site. The castle, poterne, dovecote remains, bridge and park with its moats and water system have been classified monuments historiques since 2 May 1995.
The medieval gatehouse with its drawbridge and machicolations, the square tower and the remains of the dovecote all predate the main 1595–1602 building. A now-vanished wing once housed the bakery that supplied the troops.
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