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Le Figaro: ""We went to great lengths to restore it": in Gironde, the Benauge manor house still reigns supreme".
REPORTAGE : A jewel of Gironde heritage, Château de Benauge was the residence of the most powerful Gascon lords until the end of the Hundred Years' War. Listed as a historic monument, it now belongs to an illustrious Bordeaux family who are watching over its posterity.
Château de Benauge is one of the largest in Gironde. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
Le Figaro Bordeaux
Standing 120 meters above sea level in the center of Entre-deux-Mer, the stones of Château de Benauge retain the aura of the Gironde's largest seigneury until the construction of the bastide town of Cadillac. Well-preserved and little-known, this regional stronghold first appeared in the 11th century. At that time, all the gates of the surrounding towns turned in its direction inherited its name, all the way to Bordeaux, where the Benauge district still exists. Ten centuries later, the building, which withstood two sieges, is now owned by an illustrious Bordeaux family, descendants of a notable nobleman ennobled under Napoleon I. And since its acquisition by Auguste Journu in 1913, six months before the First World War, three generations have already succeeded one another in preserving this Gironde heritage.
David Souny, a Gironde-based tour guide specializing in the seigneury of Benauge, is one of the few to organize visits to the château. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
"We went without everything to restore the historic part. When our eldest daughter married in 1985, we still didn't have a water heater. Restoration was always the priority," confides Véronique Journu. " We would never have been able to keep Benauge if we hadn't done a lot of things ourselves. Alongside her husband, 86, who still rides his tractor to mow the ditches and climbs on the roofs to renovate them, the "almost octogenarian " chatelaine works to preserve the château with her four children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. In family photographs, the youngest of the siblings appears at just 4 years of age, because she wanted to help her parents sort stones from a collapsed parapet that was due to be rebuilt. "The current generations go to great lengths to come and work on the upkeep of the château every summer. Our grandchildren all know how to make mortar the old-fashioned way", marvels the owner, certain that the Benauge torch has indeed been passed on.
The Château de Benauge is surrounded by a double wall. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
A registered local heritage
Surrounded by a double wall and once the residence of the region's most powerful lords (until it was seized and ordered demolished during the Revolution), the Château de Benauge also arouses the admiration and passion of local residents. Since 1993, two years before the site was listed as a historic monument, the Friends of Benauge association has been helping to ensure the posterity of this jewel of the Gironde region. Each year, between visits and events, its 129 members raise 25,000 euros to finance the renovation of the ruins (to which they are actively contributing).
On the staircase of the Château de Benauge sit the cannonballs fired by the trebuchets that targeted it during two sieges, in 1253 and 1453. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
Under siege by Henry III, King of England, for 40 days in 1253, a first part of the castle had collapsed before it was entrusted to Jean de Grailly, a wealthy and powerful military leader feared by the then King of France, Louis IX. Two centuries later, shortly after the capture of Castillon-la-Bataille on July 17, 1453, the stronghold was again attacked because it was still resisting the French king, Charle VII, more out of "a desire for independence than Anglophilia", explains David Souny. According to the author of a thesis on the Lords of Benauge and director of the Histoires de pierres research bureau, the fall of the castle, which at the time supported Bordeaux, Rions and the bastide town of Cadillac, in the autumn of that year marked the beginning of the end of the Hundred Years' War.
Part of the Château de Benauge is in ruins and requires regular restoration. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
A history that the Journu intend to make the most of. Eighty cannonballs fired by trebuchet from the field below adorn the chateau's stone staircase and outline its gardens. In the barn, a craft museum traces the history of the castle's successive owners. As for passing on this heritage, the third generation of the Journu family has already taken charge. The son trims the hedges in the same way as his father, and above all, the estate has been managed via a société civile immobilière (SCI). " We're sure that this will continue," Véronique Journu is delighted to say. And while Château de Benauge's identity remains that of a family holiday home, its doors are open to the public on Heritage Days and for private tours organized by Gironde-based guide David Souny.
Since 1993, the Friends of Benauge association has been helping to restore the castle ruins. Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro
