Did you know: a troglodyte castle is one that has been dug into the rock or into a cave. But a picture is worth a thousand words, and there's nothing better for understanding a subject than seeing it with your own eyes. So it's decided: this weekend, September 20-21, 2025, we're heading for the Val d'Oise to visit Château de la Roche Guyon, the one and only troglodyte castle in the Île-de-France region!
This spectacular monument, with its rich history, can be visited during the Journées du Patrimoine weekend. A not-to-be-missed opportunity to enjoy this architectural curiosity.
The Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) are back in Paris and the Île-de-France region. This major cultural event continues to surprise and delight. And rightly so: the Ile-de-France region is brimming with historical and artistic nuggets, and this special event is designed to help us visit them all!
Every year, the Journées du Patrimoine open the doors of thousands of castles, museums, places of worship and power, backstage theaters and gardens. These days showcase the heritage of every corner of France, from the best-known to the most secret... It's a real feast for the curious, eager to discover, and to get the best out of life.
Discover what awaits you at the Château de la Roche Guyon during the Journées du Patrimoine 2025:
Introduce yourself to the photogram technique with Olivier Verley, artist-photographer in residence at Château de La Roche-Guyon. Using the leaves and flower petals found in the Potager-fruitier, create a unique image from your own imagination, using interpositions and light sources!
Accompanied by a guide, come and discover this astonishing château, inhabited by the de La Rochefoucauld family since the 17th century. Leaning against the chalk cliffs since the Middle Ages, it dominates one of the many loops of the Seine. The site itself is an architectural tour de force: from the medieval keep to the 18th-century stables, via the troglodytic dovecote, the 19th-century grand gallery and the casemates carved into the rock by Field Marshal Rommel. It inspired many artists, including Edgar Pierre Jacobs, author of the adventures of Blake and Mortimer, for his volume of The Devil's Trap.
On the occasion of the European Heritage Days, the Jardin Anglais is exceptionally open to visitors. Created in the 18th century by the Duchesse d'Enville, an enlightened aristocrat who imagined a romantic and dramatic park, this enchanting place is yours to discover accompanied by a Château guide.
Slept on for nearly two centuries, nature has reclaimed its rights, but this astonishing Jardin Anglais offers, to those who can see it, the vestiges of an 18th-century "à la mode" park. Today, its beauty lies in the contrast between the mineral world of the chalk cliff and the plant world of the undergrowth.
Much more than just a place of pleasure, this landscaped park is the expression of the sensibilities of a family in the Age of Enlightenment, that of the Duchesse d'Enville. In her château, the Duchess regularly welcomed her circle of friends, made up of progressive intellectuals, ministers and artists such as Abbé Dellile, Turgot, Jean-Marie Morel, Condorcet and Hubert Robert.
Every summer, participants in Frédéric Révérend's writing workshops present a public reading of a selection of texts written over the course of the year. Comfortably seated in deckchairs in the Potager-fruitier, you can let yourself be drawn into the intimate landscapes they propose.
And find out what else is on in the Val d'Oise this weekend.
Heritage Days 2025 in Val d'Oise: discover all the treasures of 95
The 2025 edition of the Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) invites us to discover the little-known treasures of the Val d'Oise. From September 20 to 21, 2025, castles, museums and churches open their doors, revealing an exceptionally rich historical and cultural heritage. [Read more]
Dates and Opening Time
From September 20, 2025 to September 21, 2025
Location
Château de la Roche Guyon
1 Rue de l'Audience
95780 Roche Guyon (La)
Prices
Free
Heritage Days 2025 in Val d'Oise: discover all the treasures of 95
