Visit to Château de Terre-Neuve

Built around 1590 in Fontenay-le-Comte, Château de Terre-Neuve is one of the finest Renaissance residences in the Bas-Poitou region. Designed by Nicolas Rapin, a man of letters and friend of Henri IV, it immediately asserted its purpose: an elegant, skilfully proportioned residence designed for entertaining, debating and creating.

In the XIXᵉ century, the château was reborn thanks to Octave de Rochebrune, an artist, engraver and architecture enthusiast, who carefully restored it and set up a unique studio there. His style, collections and imagination still nourish the soul of the place today.

Forget traditional tours: here, you can step into the shoes of a Renaissance gentleman.

Total immersion

The guided tour (1 hour 15 minutes) takes you from room to room, amid carved woodwork, coffered ceilings, sumptuous decor and delicious anecdotes. Nothing is left to chance: each room tells a story, each sculpture whispers a secret.

The legendary monumental fireplace

At the centre of all our curiosities is the formidable Renaissance fireplace, a veritable stone book. Mysterious symbols, alchemical figures, scholarly references… According to legend, it even hides the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s up to you to interpret it!

Passionate guides

This isn’t a tour: it’s a story. The guides bring to life centuries of history, great revolutions, scholarly secrets and anecdotes from everyday life. You’ll leave feeling as if you’ve lived through your own chapter of the Renaissance.

In the former outbuildings of Château de Terre-Neuve, the museum displays over 300 objects from the family collections, which have been added to since 1805.

There is a large stone wine press, old weapons, armour, earthenware, furniture and a very fine collection of clothing from the XVIIᵉ and XVIIIᵉ centuries. A simple, authentic place that tells the story of the life of the estate over the generations.