Site castral de Vaucouleurs : Porte de France et chapelle castrale

Vaucouleurs

It was from Vaucouleurs, and not from Domrémy, that Joan's epic truly set out. In 1428, a seventeen-year-old peasant girl presented herself three times before Robert de Baudricourt, captain of this royal stronghold on the marches of Lorraine, to demand an escort to the Dauphin Charles. Mocked at first, Joan ended by convincing him. Tradition has it that she prayed at length in the crypt of the castle chapel, before the statue of Notre-Dame-des-Voûtes, a 13th-century Virgin that is still there, before passing through the Porte de France on 23 February 1429, in men's clothing, with six companions — the first step of a ride that would take her to Chinon, to Orléans and then to Reims. Of Baudricourt's castle, only the essentials of the story remain: this rebuilt Porte de France, which commanded both the castle and the entrance to the town, and the vaulted crypt where the statue of the Virgin still receives the visits of Joan's pilgrims. The 13th-century fortifications, restored in 1733 and protected as historic monuments as early as 1891, trace out on the height a promontory from which one takes in the Meuse valley. Below, the Joan of Arc museum brings together four centuries of images of the heroine — maiden, warrior, martyr — including Scherrer's great painting (1886) depicting the departure from Vaucouleurs. Every year a medieval festival re-enacts that departure, and the whole little town remembers that it was the gateway to the destiny of France.

Getting there : Upper town of Vaucouleurs, castle site freely accessible; adjoining Joan of Arc museum (entrance via the tourist office, 15 rue Jeanne d'Arc, open in season, 3 to 5 €). Coordinates given for the castle site, slightly above the town centre: approach via the rue Jeanne d'Arc.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

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