Donjon de Ballon

Built in the 11th century on a rocky spur, the Donjon de Ballon, nicknamed the "Porte du Maine", was from the 11th to the 13th century the stake of many battles between Anglo-Normans and French. William the Conqueror and Philippe Auguste fought to conquer it. It was not until the end of the Hundred Years' War that Ballon was definitively attached to France by Joan of Arc's companions. Listed as a Historic Monument, the fortress dates from the 12th century and its façade was opened in the 16th century, during the Renaissance, a time when homes and minds were open to the outside world. The architecture - the Keep has preserved its curtain walls and drawbridge, the period furniture and the gardens labelled "remarkable garden" - allow you to appreciate life as it must have been in the Middle Ages.