Château de la Preuille

The Château de la Preuille is an 11th-century castle at Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay, Vendée, France, one of the oldest châteaux in the Loire Valley.^{[citation needed]}

It took its present form in the 13th and 15th centuries. The wide moat defending the northern aspect of the walls and towers indicates its origins as a stronghold.^{[citation needed]} From 1350, the castle was owned successively by the families of Boux, Bastard (1460), Gastiniere (1541), Pâris (including Claude-René Pâris de Soulanges, comte de Soulanges) (1728), and through the late 18th century, the family of D’Nacquart or De Nacquard.^{[citation needed]}

In 1832, Marie-Caroline of Bourbon, Duchess of Berry, visited the château^[1] to launch her coup against King Louis-Philippe in order to crown her son Henri, comte de Chambord, the last legitimate Bourbon. The coup failed and Marie-Caroline was arrested.^[2][3]

During the 20th century, the castle was abandoned and was left in a state of disrepair. It was saved and restored by the Fradin family in the 1970s and 1980s. Renovation was continued by the family Ribow between 2003 and 2019.^{[citation needed]}