Château d'Harcourt (Thury-Harcourt)

The Château d'Harcourt is a stately home dating from the 17th and 18th century, now in ruins, located in the village of Thury-Harcourt, in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

[1] The ruins of the château are situated on the bank of the Orne, which traverses its park, 350 meters northwest of the Saint-Sauveur church in the village of Thury-Harcourt.

Interrupted by the death of the duke, the works were completed by his widows, Marie Anne Claude Brulart de Genlis, who installed her apartments at the north end of this new wing.

François-Henri d'Harcourt (1726–1802), the 5th duke of Harcourt, served in the King's army, distinguished himself in the [2] and in the end, he is promoted to lieutenant-general in 1762.

[3] On the other side of the valley, opposite of the château, he created a vast English landscape-style park, a testing ground and laboratory for his garden theories and ideas.

Coming from Falaise, they were received by the duke and duchess of Harcourt, dined there, and then resumed their journey in the morning to Caen.

In England, he served king Louis XVIII as ambassador-in-exile and died in the village of Staines-upon-Thames, north of London.

Upon the death of the daughter of the Duchess of Mortemart, the Princess of Beauvau, in 1854, her children sold the château and the family treasures it contained in 1856 to their cousin, Eugène d'Harcourt (1786–1865), the 8th duke of Harcourt.

[4] At the same moment, soldiers from the retreating 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich set the château and the village afire to leave a smoke screen behind.

Besides this, only the ruins of the main façade (17th century) remain including the courtyard, accessed by a drawbridge flanked by two guard pavilions, overlooking dry moats.

On 23 August 1788, the British agronomist Arthur Young visited the park, which he then described as "the most beautiful English garden in France".

[3] Also, he created a garden at the château of Betz for Maria Caterina Brignole (1737–1813), Princess of Monaco by marriage to Prince Honoré III.

[6] [5] The hill's amenities included groves of rare trees, antique-style garden structures, and paths, all providing artistic viewpoints.

Damaged by the 1944 battles, which partly destroyed the nearby town of Thury-Harcourt, the park was redesigned after the war by the 11th Duke of Harcourt.