The first stone of Guédelon castle was symbolically laid with great pomp on June 20, 1997. A parchment was embedded there as well as a 1997 ten-franc coin as an explanatory wink for future archaeologists. The first site manager was a trained stonemason, Philippe Deubel, who held this position until the beginning of 2000. The initial construction process favored the empirical experimentation of techniques in the field followed by discussions with the scientific committee of Guédelon for validation.