Château de Cerisy-la-Salle, Classical castle in Cerisy-la-Salle, France

The Château de Cerisy-la-Salle is a residence built from 1613 to 1625 under Louis XIII, standing on a rocky outcrop above the Soulles valley. Its rough light grey stone walls carry a grey slate roof, with a lower left wing under a steep pyramidal roof. Tall white-framed windows run across two floors, a stone dormer projects above the central red double door, and a grey stone chimney stack rises from the roofline.

The present château was built between 1613 and 1625 under Louis XIII by Jean Richier, a Huguenot who made it a seat of one of the twenty Protestant parishes of the Manche. The Richier family held it until the Revolution, when it was sold as national property in 1794. It was enlarged in 1756 and later restored over twenty-five years by Anne Heurgon-Desjardins.

Since 1952 the château has housed the Centre culturel international de Cerisy-la-Salle, continuing the Décades de Pontigny founded by Paul Desjardins in 1910. Participants have included Raymond Aron, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco and Eugène Ionesco. The centre was set up by Anne Heurgon-Desjardins and is now run by her daughters Catherine Peyrou and Édith Heurgon.

The castle is located on the D13 road in Normandy and offers parking on the grounds for visitors. Access through the Manche department via the local road is straightforward and easy to navigate.

The castle is known for its Colloques de Cerisy program, a series of academic seminars that have shaped French intellectual discourse for over 70 years. This special event series has brought together generations of researchers and artists.