The castle was built on a naturally protected site, a rock emerging from a swamp surrounded by a loop of the Nançon river acting as a natural moat.

[1] The first wooden fort was built by the House of Amboise in the eleventh century.

It was immediately rebuilt by Raoul II Baron de Fougères, who used to keep his donkeys there – and to this day their successors can often be seen grazing in the castle courtyard.

[1] Fougères was not involved in the Hundred Years' War until 1449, when the castle was taken by surprise by an English mercenary.

Today the castle belongs to the municipality and is one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.