"Location
The castle, since 1957, owned by the town of Lisieux, about 7 km away, stands in the Pays d'Auge, in the town of Saint-Germain-de-Livet, in the French department of Calvados.
History
The current castle of the 15th and 16th centuries was built, on the site of an old medieval fortress possession of the Tyrels, on the initiative of Robert de Tournebu, lord of Livet, who had it rebuilt with a facade in checkerboards of bricks and of stones.
The castle was the property of the Tournebu family until the death of Marie-Pierre de Tournebu (who died last of her branch in 1810). By donation, the castle passed to the Foucault family who kept it until 1879.
It was bought by Julien and Augusta Pillaut in the 1920s and remained their property until their death in 1947 (Julien Pillaut) and 1957 (Augusta Pillaut). With no descendants, Augusta decides to donate it to the city of Lisieux.
Since 2011, the castle-museum of Saint-Germain-de-Livet has been managed by the relevant EPCI museum centre, which brings together with it the Lisieux Museum of Art and History.
Description
The castle, rebuilt in the 15th century and in the third quarter of the 16th century by the Tournebu family, has a dual structure:
- a half-timbered mansion, from the 15th century;
- a checkerboard construction of Caen stones and Pré-d'Auge glazed bricks from the end of the 16th century.
Thus the castle presents medieval and Renaissance elements; it has retained its moat and is surrounded by a flower garden where a few peacocks move about.
The castle is accessed by a footbridge thrown over the moat which surrounds buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries erected around a pentagonal courtyard bordered by a gallery on arcades. The entrance pavilion is flanked by two turrets. The tower of the old 12th century castle, the central element of the main building, contains a staircase."