France · Restored
Château de Blain
Château de Blain (Château de la Groulais) is a medieval castle in Blain, Loire-Atlantique, built from the 13th century and heavily remodelled in the 16th century. It occupies a fortified site beside the Nantes–Brest canal and retains multiple round towers, curtain walls and an inner courtyard, now housing a fresco centre and an ancient printshop.
Its prime
1560
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1560
What Château de Blain looked like in its prime.
A compact mediaeval fortress of pale local stone sited beside the Nantes–Brest canal, formed of thick curtain walls and a ring of round towers topped with steep conical slate roofs and tall chimneys. A large drum tower with a corbelled, crenellated cornice stands by the main gate; the entrance is flanked by the South West and Drawbridge towers. A broad dry moat runs around the outer face and woodland rises behind the curtain walls.
Its story
The story of Château de Blain.
The first castle at Blain was constructed around 1108 on the orders of Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, and formed part of the frontier defences of Brittany alongside Vitré, Fougères, Châteaubriant, Ancenis and Clisson. The fortress passed by marriage to the Clisson family in 1225; razed in 1260 after Olivier I of Clisson's revolt against the Duke, it was rebuilt by his son Olivier II with ducal permission.
In 1407 the castle became the property of the House of Rohan — Louis, Duke of Rohan, is buried here. During the French Wars of Religion it was besieged and set on fire in 1591, in fighting between the Duke of Mercœur and Jean de Montauban, the knight De Goust.
When Henri II, Duke of Rohan, became leader of the Protestant princes, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the castle dismantled in 1628, ending its military role; it was pillaged and burnt along with the Rohan family archives. The château later passed through several hands, including Marie Bonaparte in 1918, and its surviving towers and fortifications are classified as a monument historique.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1560.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Château de Blain — including 3 interiors: mill tower interior, large ground-floor chamber (now fresco centre), ancient printshop room. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Château de Blain with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1560 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Château de Blain.
The families that held Château de Blain for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Clisson
Held Blain from 1225, when it passed to the family by marriage; rebuilt after the razing of 1260.
Rohan
Property of the House of Rohan from 1407; dismantled on Richelieu's orders in 1628.
