{"id":53601,"date":"2024-04-26T11:58:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T09:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creilsudoise-tourisme.fr\/?p=53601"},"modified":"2024-07-02T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T08:40:12","slug":"nicolas-bilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creilsudoise-tourisme.fr\/en\/2024\/04\/26\/nicolas-bilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Creil Castle: a lost treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

What's left of monumental castle overlooking Creil <\/strong>in the Middle Ages? Nicolas Bilot, archaeologist <\/strong>a member of the SDAO (Service D\u00e9partemental d'Arch\u00e9ologie de l'Oise) and founder of Aquilon, a firm specialising in heritage studies and development, takes us on a journey of discovery through the history of the Oise region. the remains of this radiant but little-known past.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creil: a strategic and royal town<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Diane Maat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Surprising as it may seem, there was a large medieval castle in Creil, on the \u00cele Saint-Maurice.<\/strong> It stood on the site of the town hall and the Mus\u00e9e Gall\u00e9-Juillet<\/a>The ch\u00e2teau was built in the style of the Ch\u00e2teau de Pierrefonds, which included the home of this Creillois family as well as the Maison de la Fa\u00efence. Nicolas Bilot now believes that it was just like the Ch\u00e2teau de Pierrefonds, built a few decades later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the Middle Ages, this site was strategic <\/strong>For several reasons: \"The first was that it controlled the Oise, at a time when most goods were being transported by waterway,\" explains the archaeologist. \"It connected to Rouen and linked to Paris via the Seine, which meant that Creil became a hinterland port for the capital. A major issue for the food supply: \"The Oise is a cereal-growing area with high yields, and Paris being a gigantic belly, it is part of Paris's granary. So there's a huge economic stake in Creil and its castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00cele Saint-Maurice also had a defensive role to play: \"If you control the island, you control navigation on the Oise,\" explains Nicolas Bilot. It was the ideal location to counter invasions from the north, which were often English at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did this medieval castle look like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It's at 12th<\/sup> It was in the 16th century that the Counts of Clermont commissioned the first castle in Creil. The town of Clermont had greatly enriched itself thanks to the trade routes to Beauvais, Soissons and Arras... In order to keep control of trade and passageways, they decided to build a castle on the banks of the River Oise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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City of Creil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For building purposes, the counts used Creil limestone: \"There's not just the Saint-Maximin quarry,\" says Nicolas Bilot, \"Creil was a quarry for a long time. The archaeologist goes on to highlight the two special features of these stones: \" The limestone of the Oise is among the best in the world.<\/strong> \"Inside, there is also \"veined limestone, with a natural pink tinge. These stones have a rare aesthetic quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The castle became even more important when the county of Clermont became part of the French crown in the 13th century.th<\/sup> century. Nicolas Bilot asserts that the kings \"kept Creil castle for themselves because they considered it to be a strategic castle, but also a symbolic one\".<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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City of Creil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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City of Creil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 14th<\/sup> century that Charles V took a particular interest in the Ch\u00e2teau de Creil <\/strong>and added his own personal touches. \"He was called the Wise Man because he was a real hard-working king. Also the builder of the Ch\u00e2teau de Vincennes, the archaeologist notes many similarities between these two royal ch\u00e2teaux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"When Charles V took over the site, he added floors and square towers. You can see the differences in the way they were built: the blocks are more beautiful and larger on the royal additions. As Nicolas Bilot points out, The king needed space when he came to Creil with his court of over 300 people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What remains of this royal castle today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Creil Sud Oise Tourisme<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Today, only 10% of this medieval castle remain.<\/strong>The building is concentrated between the tower of the Maison de la Fa\u00efence (potentially the Queen's flats, according to Nicolas Bilot), the ground floor of the Gall\u00e9-Juillet house, the cellar on the ground floor of the ch\u00e2teau, visible from the Place de la Mairie, and the first floor above the cellar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although extremely strategic in the Middle Ages, the castle gradually lost the interest of its lords from the end of the 17th century.th<\/sup> century, which prefers the Chantilly castle<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ch\u00e2teau de Creil was then rented out and sold to quarrymen, as Nicolas Bilot explains: \"They were interested in dismantling the walls and selling the stones. They started at the top: they dismantled the frameworks, sold the wood and then dismantled the second and first floors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, the Revolution came and the quarrymen were driven out of the ch\u00e2teau before they could dismantle the rest. Luckily for the archaeologist, the cellar used for storage was excavated in 2019. Upstairs, although it has been much altered by the castle's many owners, you can still make out parts of the great hall where the king received his guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the French Revolution, the owners converted the ch\u00e2teau in their own style, adding storeys, terraces and bathrooms.... Today's Mus\u00e9e Gall\u00e9-Juillet, which includes a beautiful 19th-century bourgeois house, is located in the heart of the city.th<\/sup> century, preserves very real traces of the castle<\/strong>As Nicolas Bilot tells us: \"They're going to use the ch\u00e2teau to build their house on top of it and create basements for their cellar and kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gardens are also important: \"The ch\u00e2teau has always had a garden, but we know nothing about the one in the Middle Ages,\" says the archaeologist. \"The current garden belongs to the Gall\u00e9-Juillet family. Surrounded by a wall built from the old stones of the ch\u00e2teau, there is something unusual: a miniature motte castrale. <\/strong>The tower in the middle of the garden is thought to be the stairway tower at the entrance to the ch\u00e2teau. As the round stones were difficult to sell, the owners decided to turn it into a rest area for visitors. Plus, it is surrounded by ancient Merovingian sarcophagi<\/strong> that decorate this surprising place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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