Discover Sainte-Sévère-Sur-Indre: Film History and Castle Remains

Sainte-Sévère-Sur-Indre brings together film history and medieval architectural heritage. The Maison de Jour de Fête is dedicated to Jacques Tati’s film “Jour de Fête”; around the Château médiéval, a feudal motte, a tower, ruins, and a historic park take centre stage. There is also the town gate at Place du Marché and the Wednesday market. If you are choosing cultural themes for your trip, this is where a film experience presented as a Scénovision, layers of history, and a weekly market day come together.

Film History as a Scénovision

The Maison de Jour de Fête is visited as a Scénovision performance, with projections and reconstructed, animated sets. The house in Sainte-Sévère-Sur-Indre is dedicated to Jacques Tati’s film “Jour de Fête”. What makes the experience distinctive is also the way it is presented: the film connection and the staged scenes go hand in hand. The architectural remains around the Château médiéval offer a different focus, on history and architecture. The Maison de Jour de Fête is accessible to visitors with reduced mobility. If this information is important for planning your visit, check the accessibility arrangements again before you go.

Castle Grounds, Park, and Town Gate

The feudal motte of the Château médiéval is the most significant surviving remnant of a castle first mentioned in a document from the mid-11th century; a castle stood there by the beginning of the 12th century. The tower stands on the motte. The adjoining ruins and the 19th-century English garden, together with the motte and tower, are listed as historic monuments. Around 1850, an English park with a boxwood maze was laid out on the slope of the Château médiéval facing the Indre. The early records of the castle and the much later park design thus stand side by side as distinct layers of history.

The Porte de ville, dite Porte du Marché is located at Place du Marché and dates from the 15th century. Two pointed-arch openings define the town gate. Historically, it connected the old town with the Château and the new town. Alongside the early records of the castle, this structure reveals another aspect of the town’s history: its period of construction, arch shape, and connection between the different parts of town make it a distinctive historical feature.

Market and Walking Trail

The Marché sous la halle takes place in Sainte-Sévère-Sur-Indre every Wednesday morning. It offers cheese, vegetables, and meat; individual vendors may vary.

The Circuit pédestre n° 25 « de moulins en châteaux » walking trail starts at Place du Champ de Foire and passes through a hilly landscape dotted with castles and mills. Here, the focus is not on individual architectural features, but on the landscape and the themes of mills and castles. This gives you several different options to consider when planning your trip: a staged film experience, historic architecture, the Wednesday morning market, or a walk through the hilly countryside.

Discover more destinations: Douadic, Lureuil, Saint-Hilaire-sur-Benaize, Cluis, La Châtre-Langlin, Niherne, Chitray, Argenton-Sur-Creuse.

For the regional travel overview: Indre.