In 1862, the castle, which became the property of the city, was recognized as a historical monument, after which artists began to paint their watercolors from it and make engravings. Caretakers, guides appeared, tourists began to bring tourists to the castle. Even the Second World War did not affect this place. Well … it goes somewhere and goes.
Municipal park and gate to the castle.
The plan of the Gizor castle: 1 - motte; 2 - donjon; 3 - ascent to the mott; 4 - chapel; 5 - well; 6 - large courtyard; 7 - the main gate; 8 - "Tower of Prisoners"; 9 - barbican; 10 - outer wall; 11 - small gates for sorties; 12 - "Devil's Tower"; 13 - spare gate; 14 - casemate; 15 - city wall; 16 - ditch.
So it was in 1944, when a certain Mr. Roger Lomua worked as a watchman (and at the same time as a guide) in Gisore. Well, and of course, that he could not help but tell tourists about the castle itself, and about his connection with the Templars. And where the Templars are, there is, of course, a treasure. And how can it be that in such a small town, standing next to such a place, there would be no rumors about the treasure, supposedly buried in the bowels of the hill on which the castle rises. In general, Roger decided that there was no smoke without fire, and one night at night he began to dig up the old castle well, which had long been covered with earth. He went 3 m deep into it and found a gallery going deep into the hill. His joy probably knew no bounds. But this business did not end well for him.
Donjon of the castle on the embankment makes a very strong impression, and especially for some reason up close!
There was a landslide, and Lomua suffered a broken leg and only with great difficulty was able to get to the surface. But that did not stop him. As soon as his leg grew together, as, together with his friend Roger, again climbed into the mysterious underground passage. They dug for several days, and at a depth of 16 m they found an empty chamber 4 x 4 m and then another gallery lined with stone. Moreover, Roger knew about the existence of dungeons under the castle and even took tourists to them. But the openings this time were not connected with these dungeons. That is, it turned out that the hill under the castle of Gisor was literally dug up by deep underground corridors. But who and when, and most importantly - why dug them? It is known that many castles of the fortress had underground passages that went beyond their walls, so that the owner of the castle and his entourage could secretly escape from it, or to deliver an unexpected blow to the rear of the besiegers. But here it turned out that all the passages were inside the fill mound! No underground passage to the outside was found!
In the Middle Ages, there were various household and residential buildings on the territory of the castle, of which only underground structures have survived, which are open to tourists. It is clear that there is nothing mysterious there today. In fact, these are cellars and cellars, where barrels of wine and gunpowder, salted meat in chests and all other food supplies were kept cool.
Once again Roger Lomua began his research in March 1946. Passing along the side gallery discovered by him with a friend, he was able to descend 21 m underground, that is, below the base of the hill. Here in front of him was a stone wall. Lomua punched a hole in it and got into a vast dungeon - a real chapel, built in the Romanesque style, about 30 m long, 9 m wide and about 4.5 m high. At the far end of it, he saw a stone altar and a canopy above it, and along the walls were statues of the twelve apostles and of Christ himself. Then Lomua discovered in the chapel 19 stone sarcophagi about 2 m long each and at least 30 large antique chests of drawers, each about 2.5 m long, 1.8 m high and 1.6 m wide, standing on the floor. But he did not manage to open them at Lomua, according to him.
When King Philip Augustus rebuilt the castle, he ordered the construction of a powerful round tower at the junction of the city walls and the advanced barbican, later called the Tour du Prisonnier ("Tower of the Prisoners"). The entrance to it was arranged in such a way that it was possible to enter it only by climbing the wall, near the main gate.
Having got out of the dungeon into the light of God, an amateur treasure hunter went straight to the mayor's office and honestly told everything. However, for some reason no one believed him. None of the mayor’s officials had the courage to go underground and check the veracity of Lomua’s story. But two people - his brother and one army officer nevertheless climbed into the dungeon, but for some reason they could not reach the chapel.
Another, the second largest gate, equipped with a lifting lattice, is located on the north side of the castle.
Meanwhile, the city authorities said that with his amateur excavations, Lomua could damage the foundation of the castle and thereby damage the historical monument. After that, he was fired and no longer allowed into the castle. But he never gave up his intention to get to the mysterious chapel and in 1952 managed to convince two wealthy citizens to invest in this enterprise. Upon learning of this, the authorities of Gisor agreed to give permission for the search only on condition that 80% of all the treasures found were obtained, which would not bring any profit, so both investors immediately backed down.
This is what he is - underground digger Roger Lomua.
Since then, the mysterious chapel has been searched for more than once. The presence of previously unknown underground passages under the castle of Gisor was confirmed, but no one else managed to find the mysterious hall with all its statues, sarcophagi and chests. There were people who claim that someone once and no one knows where, but precisely in the old archives, found a drawing of this chapel, clearly dating back to the Middle Ages. Legends immediately arose, claiming that here, just under the castle of Gisor, the most important secrets and all the treasures of the Knights Templar have been kept since the XIV century …
But this seems to be what he found underground!
So there is a treasure of the Knights Templar or is it all idle tales aimed at attracting more tourists to Gisor? And is there really a mysterious chapel, decorated with sculptures and stuffed with sarcophagi and mysterious chest of drawers, hidden inside the hill under the castle? It is possible that someday someone will find the answers to all these questions. So far, only this can be said: if this underground chapel really exists, then it cannot be connected with the Order of the Templars in any way.
The chapel of the castle, preserved to this day. East nave.
After all, the castle of Gizor was given to the knights-templars only for temporary administration and only for three years: from 1158 to 1161. And if so, then what was the point for them to start a large-scale construction in it and hide something important from where they could be asked at any time? It's just that the history of Gisor, even without the secrets of the Templars, was quite turbulent and eventful, and it is quite possible that one of its many owners wished to hide some secret in it and for the sake of this dug a dungeon under the castle? Anyway - here is a wonderful application of funds for our today's nouveau riche.
The courtyard of the castle is surrounded on all sides by a moat and a wall 10 m high, which connects with the city wall, or rather with what is left of it today. The wall is reinforced with numerous round, U-shaped, quadrangular and pentagonal towers. This is a round tower called "Devil's".
Pentagonal tower of the outer wall.
You come to Gizor, go to the mayor's office and promise to unearth everything for your money, give everything that is open in a percentage of 80 to 20, but at the same time you notify the BBC, SВC, NВS and other TV and radio companies and sell them the right to shoot you in the dungeon, and the publishing house "Penguin" the right to the book: "How I found the treasures of the Templars" (or "did not find", there is not much difference here) and you write a book about the broad Russian soul, craving for adventure, the history of the Templars, which attracted Mr. Imyarek from childhood, in a word, about everything that is now called "living history" in the West. And then “dungeons”, “landslides”, “chapel” - in a word, in any case it will be a bestseller, which will become butter to the heart of any person “with money” who dreams of some other public recognition, and not just the role of “monetary bag ".
It’s probably funny to live in a house with such a “historical tower” behind it, but for today's people of Zhizors it’s commonplace.
