France is renowned for its châteaux, grand estates and stately homes, often converted from older medieval structures. In the Middle Ages, castles were designed for war, not aesthetics or pleasure. Medieval castles are massive, with towers, battlements, bastions, embrasures, gates or barbicans, drawbridges, a keep, as well as a moat if the castle is on flat ground.

Owing to their military function many medieval castles have been destroyed in wars, or abandoned once their usage had become superfluous. This page gathers photos of the best preserved and most beautiful castles of France.

Haut-Koenigsbourg, Alsace

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle Castle, Aquitaine

Roquetaillade Castle, Aquitaine

Bonaguil Castle, Aquitaine

Castelnau-Bretenoux Castle, Midi-Pyrénées

Montbrun Castle, Limousin

Tarascon Castle, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Sully-sur-Loire Castle, Centre

Castle of the Dukes of Anjou in Angers, Pays de la Loire

Castle of the Dukes of Normandy in Caen, Lower Normandy

Castle of Falaise, Lower Normandy

Castle of the Dukes of Brittany in Suscinio, Brittany

Josselin Castle, Brittany

Castle of the Dukes of Rohan in Pontivy, Brittany

Fougères Castle, Brittany

Vitré Castle, Brittany

Langeais Castle, Centre

Loches Castle, Centre

Foix Castle, Midi-Pyrénées