The Gisor castle is one of the most powerful, beautiful and mysterious buildings of medieval Europe. It stands on the outskirts of the city of the same name in Normandy (63 km from Paris) and in the Middle Ages was the center of the Vexin region. This ancient fortress is often called the castle of the Knights Templar. Indeed, for some time the Zhizorsky castle was in the hands of the Templars. However, its history begins much earlier - in the 9th century.
The river Apt, on which the castle stands, for several centuries served as the border between the French and English possessions in Normandy. On both sides of it were built many castles, the most important of which was Gisor. It occupied a strategically important point at the top of a hill dominating the Epta Valley. Two roads ran through Gisor from Paris to Rouen: by river and by land.
Such an advantageous location remained a bone of contention until the 15th century. In 945, King Louis IV of France was forced to give Gisor to the British. In 1066, another French king, Philip I, recaptured him from William the Conqueror, but, alas, not for long. In 1087, the successor of William the Conqueror, the English king William II the Red, completely rebuilt Gisor: he poured an artificial hill 14 meters high and erected wooden fortifications on its top. In 1090, the knight Thibault de Payenne, the nephew of Hugo de Payen, the founder of the Templar order, became the new owner of the castle. So for the first time, the fate of Gisor crossed with the fate of the famous order.
Under Thibaut de Payenne, the castle began to be rebuilt in stone. The hill was filled in and enlarged, and an imposing octagonal tower rose on its top. The rebuilding was led by the architect Robert Bellem, who was assisted by another architect, Lefroy, who worked a lot on the orders of the Templars. And in 1128, when the castle was already ready, the founder of the Knights Templar, Hugo de Payen himself, visited it. They say that it was here, in Gisor, that the famous Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, sitting under the shade of an old elm tree, wrote the charter of the Knights Templar with his own hand.
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During its long life, the castle has seen many historical characters, survived numerous sieges and became a participant in various historical events.
In 1307, the defeat of the Knights Templar began. The French king Philip the Fair carried out a surprise and well-prepared operation against the leaders of the order. On November 29, 1308, several high-ranking Templars were brought to Gisor. They remained imprisoned here until 1314.
The name of the entrance tower of the castle reminds of this today - the Tower of the Prisoners. Although it was seriously damaged during the Second World War, the inscriptions left by the Templars imprisoned here are still preserved on the walls of the premises of the second and third tiers.
During the Hundred Years War, the castle changed hands more than once. In 1419, after a three-week siege, Gisor was captured by the British troops, who significantly rebuilt the castle. The reconstruction was mainly aimed at ensuring that medieval fortifications could withstand the face of a formidable new weapon - artillery. In 1449, Charles VII regained Normandy together with Gisor, and since then the castle has no longer seen foreign soldiers at its walls. However, the military significance of Gizor quickly faded away: the development of artillery did not leave any chances for the ancient strongholds. In 1599, the castle was excluded from the list of French fortresses.
Photo: chateauxmedievaux.com
The castle's last adventure was in 1944. Attracted by rumors about the Templars' treasures buried in the castle, the watchman Roger Lomua went one night to dig an old well, covered with earth. Having dug into the depth of about 3 meters, he found a side gallery that branched off from the shaft of the well and went somewhere deep into the hill. An attempt to get into it almost ended in tragedy - there was a collapse and Lomua with a broken leg climbed upward with great difficulty.
Photo: chateauxmedievaux.com
However, this did not stop him, and, barely recovering from his injury, Lomua, together with his friend, again went in search of a mysterious underground passage. After several days of continuous work, at a depth of 16 meters, they found an empty chamber measuring 4x4 meters, then another horizontal gallery, laid in the thickness of the hill. None of these structures were associated with any other dungeons. The story became more and more mysterious. It was only clear that the entire hill under the castle of Gisor was permeated with some kind of underground passages and chambers. But who built them and for what purpose?
In March 1946, Lomua resumed excavations. Going from the end of the side gallery he discovered, he managed to go 21 meters underground. Here a stone wall blocked his way. Punching a hole in it, Lomua found himself in a vast dungeon. By the light of the lantern, he saw that it was a real old chapel of Romanesque architecture, about 30 meters long, 9 meters wide and 4.5 meters high. At the far end of the hall was a stone altar with a canopy above it. Along the walls were statues of Christ and the twelve apostles. Lomua counted 19 stone sarcophagi, each about 2 meters long, in the chapel, and at least 30 old chests, or rather dressers, standing on the floor. Each of them was about 2.5 meters long, 1.8 meters high and 1.6 meters wide. Lomua, according to him, failed to open them.
Roger Lomua
Having risen to the surface, the treasure hunter came to the mayor's office and told about his extraordinary find, but they did not believe him. None of the officials dared to go underground to ascertain the veracity of the story of the castle keeper. Only two people - Lomua's brother and one army officer followed the trail of the treasure hunter, but they failed to reach the chapel.
Meanwhile, the city authorities accused Lomua of damaging the foundations of the castle with his amateur excavations and thereby causing damage to the historical monument. Lomua was fired. However, he did not give up his dream of getting to the mysterious chapel and in 1952 he managed to convince two rich people to invest in this enterprise. However, the authorities of Gisor, in exchange for permission to search, wished to receive 80% of the treasures, if they can be found. Under such conditions, the enterprise would not have brought any profit, so investors refused to finance it.
And what about the Templar treasure? Is there really a mysterious chapel with sculptures, sarcophagi and mysterious chests hidden in the bowels of the hill under Gizor? After all, legends say that it is here, under the castle of Gisor, that the most important secrets and treasures of the famous Knights Templar have been kept since the XIV century.
The existence of underground galleries under the castle of Gisor was confirmed, but no one has yet been able to find the mysterious room with treasures. If this chapel exists, then it can hardly be associated with the Knights Templar. After all, the castle was under the temporary management of the Templar Knights for only three years: from 1158 to 1161, and it made no sense for them to hide anything in a fortress that did not belong to them. But the medieval history of Gisor even without the Templars was quite turbulent, and who knows, maybe, indeed, one of its owners wished to hide some secret in the deep dungeons of the castle.
Used materials from the book by N. N. Nepomniachtchi "100 great treasures" from the site k2x2.info