In the center rose a chapel the orig
-nal nucleus of the chateau. Founda
tions and a gr:-ss plot arc all that
remain. The fourth defense was
chateau proper, a great quadrangle us
spacious as most chateaux In their
ensemble. V.m corner was crowned
with a great cjluulrical tower more
han a bundled f*et in height, the!/
'-ills reaily fne jmds thick.
ihen uni.. the hu.il defense, iuc
gieat donjon tower, the kernel of the
impregnable nut which has never been
cracked, neaily 200 feet in height, 100
feet in diameter and at the base 30
odd feet thick, the most nearly perfect
example of the medieval architecture
of defense.
In 1914, a month after the opening
of hostilities, the gray wa\e of the
German army of invasion had swept
over Coucy. Its great towers com
mand the greater part of the battle
field over which writhe three armies
in their titanic struggle. For this
reason the enemy placed their anti
aircraft guns and searchlights on the
topmost tower. When in the middle
of March they finally uprooted them-
seUes ior the first time since the be
diming from their trenches and be
gan their backward goosestep out of
France, it was not likely that iu the
holocaust oi destruction which they
left in their way, which included chil
dren's toys, family photographs and
the doghouse, they would forget the
Chateau of Coucy.
