# Château de Vincennes

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Content updated: 2026-06-22

Château de Vincennes stands beside the town of Vincennes, on Paris’s eastern edge near the Bois de Vincennes. The former fortress and royal residence combines high defensive walls, towers, a deep moat, and a fortified gateway. Its massive fourteenth-century donjon rises as Europe’s tallest fortified central tower.

Construction expanded mainly between 1361 and 1369 under John II and Charles V. Louis VII had established a royal residence here in 1178, while Louis IX later held royal councils on the site. French kings used these walls as a refuge and residence before the château became a prison, manufactory, and military headquarters. The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, begun in 1379 and completed in 1552, brings Flamboyant Gothic architecture into the fortified complex.

The chapel became a historic monument in 1853, and the donjon followed in 1913. The Marquis de Sade and the future Henry IV both spent time as prisoners here.

- City: [Vincennes](https://mytuur.com/en/city/vincennes/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ChteaudeVincennes_67853a3eebe7a333a71d356f_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau-de-Vincennes-donjon.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ChteaudeVincennes_67853a3eebe7a333a71d356f_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Château_de_Vincennes_sous_Charles_V_par_Pierre_Nicolas_Ransonette.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ChteaudeVincennes_67853a3eebe7a333a71d356f_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Château_de_Vincennes_\(35994433350\).jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ChteaudeVincennes_67853a3eebe7a333a71d356f_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Fouquet_-_Job_and_his_False_Comforters_-_WGA08033.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ChteaudeVincennes_67853a3eebe7a333a71d356f_4.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sainte_Chapelle_Vincennes_2014_ext.jpg)

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Vincennes. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

## What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.