The drawbridge of Langeais under Louis XI and Jacques Siegfried's restoration of the château

My favourite part of any castle is the drawbridge. Unfortunately, the cinema pays this feature attention only in siege scenes; after that, the focus falls wholly on walls and arrow slits. And for the most part the bridges shown are monotonous and dull. Here is an example of an interesting one: the drawbridge at the Château de Langeais, once owned by Richard the Lionheart, a castle part of which is considered one of the oldest surviving stone fortresses in France, dating from the 13th century. The section of the façade with the drawbridge belongs to the 15th century, when Louis XI rebuilt to his own taste the castle destroyed under Charles VII, adding formidable towers, a parapet and a bridge, so what we see here is the lifting technology of the second half of the 15th century. For the castle's present state France is indebted to the medievalist and businessman Jacques Siegfried, who bought the crumbling estate at the end of the 19th century, restored it, assembled a large collection of medieval everyday objects and art, and then bequeathed it to the Institut de France.