Deep in the heart of Burgundy, you'll find artisans building a 13th-century castle with 13th-century techniques. Here is the story of Guedelon.

Guédelon sheds light on the mysteries of the medieval world.  Are you curious about what life was like in France 1,000 years ago? Have you ever looked at a medieval castle and thought, "How on earth did they construct that in the 13th century?" Would you like to go back in time and see a lord's manor being built? I have a recommendation the next time you find yourself 1 1/2 hours south of Paris in the heart of Burgundy. It just might answer all of your questions. For almost 25 years, artisans, historians, and archaeologists have been working together to construct a 13th-century castle using 13th-century techniques and materials. By serendipity, the story of Guédelon began when the right person saw a particular report at the right time. In 1997, Michel Guyot and Maryline Martin began an extraordinary project that brought together a team that shared the vision of an experimental archaeological project that would bring history to life. This is the only photo that I did not take. I wanted to provide you an overview of the castle site. See Guédelon website.  Guédelon is not a replica. It's not being built on the ruins of a pre-existing structure. It is a new build of a 13th-century castle in the 21st century. The attraction is the construction of the building, itself. As each year passes so too does the year in medieval times. Currently, we are in the year 1252. I know of no other project like it.  The construction is wrapped into a period-accurate story that helps to guide the design and construction of the castle and the surrounding workers' village. We begin in the year is 1228. Louis IX, the future Saint Louis, is crowned in Reims three years earlier. Too young to rule, his mother, Blanche of Castile, acted as Regent until 1235. Locally, the village of Puisaye is under the control of Jean de Toucy. There is relative peace and stability. Our fictitious builder is Seigneur Guilbert, a middle-ranking feudal lord and vassal to Toucy and the king of France. Guilbert has married Toucy's niece and thus has married into a powerful family. His wife's dowry brings him land, mills, and woodlands over which he can exercise his seigneurial rights. In the feudal hierarchy, Guédelon's lord has limited financial means. It needs to be a small castle, more of a fortified manor house. There is no money for an expensive drawbridge.  "What excited me about this project was making a long-term commitment to people. It meant we could offer training, meaningful work, and a real future."   - Maryline Martin The first year of the project was spent making tools, baskets, pots, and locating the foundation stones. Nothing here moves quickly. A stonemason works several days to carve one stone. Guédelon needs thousands. Previously, there was nothing to be found on this woodland site. There are no castle ruins or ancient foundations. But there was an abandoned stone quarry from the 1950s. The site provided all the necessary building materials for a medieval castle. Stone for the walls and towers. Big oak trees for wood. A water source and clay for the roof tiles. Ochre for pigment and sand for mortar. Our lord Guilbert does not incur the expense of transporting these materials to his land. The Guédelon team draws on a wide range of sources to guide their project: Canon and standards used for castle forts and manor houses at the time, surviving buildings and their characteristics from this period, and the results of historical and archaeological research. The key rule for the project is that only what is known from period documents of the time is permitted. What you see when you visit Guédelon is the coming together of master skills, an understanding of history, and patience. In the Middle Ages, those with enough money could afford toilets or "garderobes." A stone privy jutting out of the side of the castle. A hole in the bottom let everything drop into a pit below. Can you imagine what life smelled like in the 13th century? Fortunately, this is omitted from our tour of Guédelon. There are no modern mechanical cranes on-site doing the heavy lifting. Only traditional tools and techniques are employed. Here a wooden treadmill is used to lift pieces of stone into place. The main purpose of Guédelon is education. There is no better way to learn than to experience how a castle is constructed first hand. You can talk with blacksmiths, carpenters, stonemasons, potters, rope makers, basket weavers, woodcutters, and dyers.  Everywhere you look, you see prized skills creating 13th-century elements.  How far has the work progressed? I would say after 25 years, the project is about 80% complete. The main building, storerooms, kitchen, the lord's bedroom, the chapel tower, and the Great Hall can all be toured. When I visited last month, work was being done on the twin turrets and gate of the Portcullis. Wall paintings in the lord's bedchamber used imagery from the Church of St. Peter in nearby Moutiers-en-Puisaye. All of the paints were made by hand on-site from the local earth pigments. For a closer look at the 12th-century frescos, click here for my archived Weekly Voilà. Not only are the iron fittings required for the castle made on-site, so too are the tools required by the artisans to create their works of art. Guédelon is a reenactment of medieval life. Everything that is needed is made by hand. Tools, carts, nails, baskets, clothing, barrels, tiles, ceramic vessels for food preparation, all of it is made by hand. Guédelon is an example of experimental archaeology in action. The pigment workshop was my favorite. Bien sûr. It is here that all the colors for the wall paintings and fabrics are created. They are made by crushing natural rock ochres found on the property. I love the reminder that the medieval world was far from dark and gloomy and ignorant of color. To learn more about making your own paint from earth pigments, click here to see my archived Weekly Voilà.  Guédelon is always busy. There's hammering, sawing, rocks being hewed. A castle is being built. Workers are in conversation. Gardens are being tended. Grain is being milled. You have a small sense of what life was like as you walk through the woodlands. Herbs and vegetables known and used in the 13th century are grown in the kitchen gardens. More than 300,000 visitors come to Guédelon each summer. It is currently open with COVID restrictions 6 days a week. You'll need a car to get there. I suggest staying one night in the area. There are plenty of farmstays and bed & breakfasts nearby. See their website for more detailed information. I also recommend the BBC series, Secrets of the Castle, for a 5-part program on Guédelon. One of the most recent additions to the site is a functioning medieval flour mill, built in collaboration with the National Institue for Preventive Archaeological Research over a three-year period. Guédelon is an enormous undertaking but so much has been learned and shared. All of the artisans are passionate about rediscovering, practicing, and developing their skills, and teaching others. The whole living historical site is an academy for apprentices and a glimpse at medieval life for the public who can learn about traditional craft skills in a "real" working environment. I have had the pleasure of visiting twice, in 2016 and last month. The team believes there is about 8-10 more years left of the construction. Plenty of time to plan your family's visit.   Add a little of medieval history to your weekend, Karen 🏰✨🇫🇷