French Donjons: Castle of Coucy, Medieval Life in Miniature
JOSLYN ART MUSEUM: February 4 - May 14
Photo courtesy of International Castle Research Society
In the Middle Ages, centuries of conflict between France and England furthered the development of the art of building castles. The donjon or keep, the residential tower, became the prominent part of castle architecture and was always placed at a strategic point, where it stood as a symbol of power. This exhibition is an historically accurate representation, researched and built by the Society for Medieval Castle Science (SMCS) of Aachen, Germany, of the donjon that graced the castle of Coucy, situated some 120 km northeast of Paris. The residence of many powerful nobles of the Middle Ages, Coucy was famous for having the largest donjon ever built in Europe: 180 feet tall and 100 feet in diameter, with walls up to 24 feet thick. Constructed in 1226-28, it stood nearly 700 years, until it was destroyed in 1917 during World War I. ...
http://www.joslyn.org
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V R at 6:12 PM
Edited on: Saturday, February 04, 2006 6:15 PM
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