Building a Medieval Castle From Scratch
Since 1997, using only Middle Ages tools & technology, a group has been building a medieval castle in a French forest.
In the heart of Guédelon forest, in an abandoned quarry, a team of master-builders is building a 13th-century castle from scratch. Quarrymen, stonemasons, carpenter-joiners, woodcutters, blacksmiths, tilers, carters and rope makers…are working together to revive heritage craft skills and to shed light on the world of medieval construction.
Here’s a quick, 2-minute video on the effort:
And here’s a longer look:
And from the Absolute History channel, a five-part series on how medieval castles are built, using Guédelon as an example; here’s the first video in the series:
If you find yourself in Burgundy, you can visit the castle — the construction is funded in part by visitors’ fees.




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Edit: this is the same as the series posted above.
There's a whole BBC series from 2014 about Guédelon, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrets_of_the_Castle
Would love to visit sometime.
ICYMI: Tom Scott's treadmill crane video at Guédelon!
I’ve been and it’s worth it! Fun for the whole family too.
From Alan Taylor at the Atlantic, Photos: Building a Medieval Castle in the 21st Century.
Archaeology Magazine: How to Build a Medieval Castle.
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