Guédelon Castle didn't exist during the Middle Ages, so the people who created this place invented a story for it. The castle is a Philippian castle which was built by Jean de Toucy, an invented character.
We had the feeling we were in 1249 when we were there. At that time, Louis IX also known as Saint Louis was the King of France. He went to Jerusalem on a holy crusade. Marguerite de Provence ruled the country while he was away.
The people who worked at the castle wore a costume from the Middle Ages. They were passionate about this historical period.
The castle is still under construction: works are still in progress. It is built with techniques inherited from the Middle Ages. The castle’s walls are built with special stones composed of limestone and ferruginous sandstone. The people who work on this building site only work over the spring and summer because the weather conditions are bad during the winter.
We visited the Lord’s room. Flowers were painted on the bedroom’s walls and there was also a fireplace in the room. The castle will only be finished in 7 years but the people are already thinking of building the village as soon as the castle is complete.
We discovered the different systems of measurement used to build the castle. People had a rope with thirteen knots which served as a set square, a compass and a ruler. The distance between each knot corresponds to a hand span. We tried a geometry activity with the ropes and it was quite difficult. We had to design a square, a triangular and a round with the thirteen-knot rope.
We saw craftsmen such as a blacksmith, a basket maker and a minter. They talked about what they did in the castle.
We saw a farm with a lot of animals: pigs, donkeys, horses, geese and sheep: it didn’t smell very good.
It was an interesting day!
Written by the 5A students
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