La Rochepot Castle

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Southeast view of La Rochepot Castle

The Château de la Rochepot ( French Château de La Rochepot ) is a castle in the French department of Côte-d'Or region of Burgundy . It is located on a limestone cliff north of the village of La Rochepot (formerly La Roche-Nolay) about 15 kilometers southwest of Beaune and is since 3 April 2013 as a monument historique under monument protection .

As early as the 12th century, there was a fortified structure on site, which was replaced by a castle in the current location in the 13th century. Renewed and expanded by Régnier Pot , his son Jacques and his grandson Philippe in the 15th century, it finally came to François Blancheton via the Montmorency , Silly and Legoux de La Berchère families in the 17th century, for whom the associated Seigneurie was elevated to a county in 1741 has been. Confiscated during the French Revolution , the castle complex was auctioned off for demolition and then used as a quarry, so that at the beginning of the 19th century it was only a ruin . This was completely reconstructed from 1894 by Sadi Carnot, a son of the French President Marie François Sadi Carnot , in the style of historicism . The Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance buildings cannot be visited.

history

The rock on which today's facility stands was probably inhabited as early as Roman times . At least this is what finds of coins from the 2nd century suggest. Older publications often mention Alexander von Burgund (1170–1205), son of the Burgundian Duke Hugo II , as the builder of the first castle a little above the current location, but a document from 1112 to 1140 mentions a castrum de Rocha and a castle chapel in this place. Remains of this first system are still preserved today and were restored around 1910 . The castle consisted of at least two buildings, which were surrounded by a curtain wall and protected by a deep moat on the north side. Investigations on the masonry in 2005 showed that it was from the 12./13. Century. This dating has been confirmed by ceramic finds. The first plant was abandoned at the end of the 13th century, perhaps due to lack of water, and replaced by a new building at the current location. At that time, the castle and its seigneurie were in the hands of the de La Roche family. From her they came to the de Thil family through marriage. Marie de Thil brought the property to her husband Édouard , sire de Beaujeu et de Dombes . Their son Antoine died childless in 1374, so that his sister Marguerite became the sole heir. Their son Louis from his marriage to Jacques de Savoie , lord of Piedmont , sold the manor and castle to Régnier Pot in 1403. The new lord of the castle came from an old noble family from the Berry and was chamberlain of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Bold and Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since it was founded in 1429. His family gave the complex its current name: La Roche-Nolay became La Roche-Pot (first mentioned in a document from 1531) and finally La Rochepot.

View of the castle from around 1750

Régnier not only had the facility renewed, but also rebuilt and expanded it. Remnants of the foundations of the previous buildings can still be found in the immediate vicinity of the castle. Among the works included the construction of a large Donjons from quarried stone and the construction of a new lodging . After Régnier's death, his son Jacques succeeded him as lord of the castle. He continued his father's construction work. The same applies to Jacques' son Philippe Pot, chamberlain to Duke Philip the Good , Seneschal of Burgundy and, like his grandfather, a knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. He also continued to work on the facility. This resulted in numerous changes to the defense elements in the second half of the 15th century in order to adapt the castle to modern artillery technology . This included the erection of a massive tower on the eastern corner of the complex and the construction of a barbican . However, some defense elements of that time still had to be ordered by King Louis XI in the 15th century . to be resigned in his capacity as Duke of Burgundy. Philippe Pot was inherited by his brother Guyot in 1493. He bequeathed the castle to his daughter Anne, who married Guillaume de Montmorency in 1484 . The couple bequeathed the system to their son Anne , the famous Marshal and Connétable of France . He was its owner from 1510 to 1551. Then he sold the castle to the Silly family. Madeleine de Silly bequeathed it to her son Charles from their marriage to Charles d'Angennes, marquis de Fargis. He died childless in 1640 at the age of only 37 and bequeathed the property to his cousin Jean-François Paul de Gondi , Cardinal de Retz . In 1645 he had to sell the system to Pierre Legoux de La Berchère for financial reasons. The buildings were badly damaged by a storm that year. The repairs required 40,000  roof tiles , 5,000  slate shingles and 20,000 nails. Pierre's widow Louise Joly had some minor changes made to the complex after her husband's death in 1669. They sold their descendants in 1740 to a commoner from Nolay , François Blancheton. For him the seigneurie was raised to the county in 1741. In the same year he began repairs and changes to the castle. In the course of this work, which was not finished until 1789, the living spaces were redesigned and the castle chapel was increased. It was re-consecrated in 1750.

The castle as a ruin around 1890

During the French Revolution, the complex was devastated, set on fire and finally confiscated in 1792. On 7th  Messidor VII (June 25th 1799) they were auctioned off as national property. The new owner was a citizen Bélorgey, who paid 6700 francs for the partially destroyed castle  and then used it as a quarry. In the following ten years he had the majority of the buildings demolished and sold the material obtained. First the donjon was demolished. In 1810 only the outer facade of the Logis, part of the Tauben and Marlot towers and the large round tower on the eastern corner stood. Between 1839 and 1855, the niece of the last Count of La Rochepot tried to buy back the ruins for the family, but the plans failed due to the high demands of the then owner, Crochet. Otherwise he did not care about the system and let it deteriorate further. In the second half of the 19th century, however, the ruin was mentioned more and more frequently in French literature and in travel guides, making it a tourist attraction. Thanks to the ever-expanding railway network, it attracted more and more visitors to La Rochepot. This ultimately led to the abandonment of the remaining building fabric. In 1890 only roofless pieces of wall existed.

North side of the castle during its reconstruction, 1906

In 1893, Cécile Carnot, the wife of French President Marie François Sadi Carnot, bought the ruins and gave them to her eldest son Sadi in early 1894. This began with decades of restoration and reconstruction. The first reconstruction work took place from 1895 under the direction of Léon Cunissets, a brother of Sadis' brother-in-law Paul Cunisset-Carnot. This included securing the remains of the wall and the complete reconstruction of the east tower. In 1897, however, the work was temporarily stopped and only continued after the lord of the castle had hired Charles Suisse as the new architect . According to his plans, the architectural decor of the east tower was completed. After completing the work, Carnot was so satisfied with the result that he decided to reconstruct the entire castle complex as it was in the 15th century. Pen-and-ink drawings from 1645 served as a template. For undocumented parts of the building, Suisse looked for models in other Burgundian buildings from that time and found them, for example, in the Châteauneuf-en-Auxois castle and the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune . Where spoils were found, Suisse tried to reuse them. The architect and client brought the sculptor Xavier Schanosky from Dijon on board for the stonework . At the same time as the reconstruction work, excavations took place on the castle area from 1899 to 1900 . In 1901 the castle chapel and the western curtain wall were restored. In the following year, the completely buried well was exposed. The year 1903 saw the reconstruction of the Marlo Tower and the gatehouse including the barbican in front. However, the demolished donjon could not be rebuilt. Only its substructure was secured and then a terrace was created in its place . When Charles Suisse died in August 1906, his two students and employees Abel Forey and Adolphe Prost took over the construction site management from September of that year. Louis Dolfini became the chief architect. The first part of the logis was completed by 1909, the second part followed in the years 1911 to 1914. The construction work was interrupted when the First World War broke out and only resumed in 1921. The last measures were completed in 1927. In total, the reconstruction of the castle complex cost 3,099,460 francs. Exceptions to the fidelity to the original from the 15th century were only made inside, where Carnot had not wanted to forego contemporary living comfort, so that the rebuilt facility had running water, central heating, electricity as well as bathrooms and toilets.

Descendants of the Carnot family tried to sell the castle since summer 2012. The requested price was 3.2 million euros. They found a buyer in 2015 in a Luxembourg company backed by the Ukrainian Dmytro Malinovsky. He was arrested by French police in October 2018 for an arrest warrant wanted for fraud and money laundering in his home country. The castle complex has been closed to visitors since then.

description

architecture

Marlot tower and barn, view from the castle courtyard

La Rochepot Castle stands on a rocky plateau near the intersection of two previously important roads: the Paris-Lyon road and the connection from Moulins to Basel . It thus occupied a strategically important point. On its north side, it is separated from the rest of the mountain by a neck ditch about 8.5 meters wide and 6 meters deep . Beyond this ditch is the farm building belonging to the castle. The property includes around 28 hectares of land, which includes  forests, moorland , meadows and fields. Various old and rare tree species can be found on the land, including cedar , linden , hornbeam , horse chestnut and rock cherry . To the east, a little below the castle, there is a Porée Tower ( French Tour Porée ) called a square tower with a tent roof . Today it serves as the castellan's apartment .

Today's buildings are in the restored late Gothic form , as they were created in the Flamboyant style by the building work under Régnier Pot, his son Jacques and his grandson Philippe in the 15th century. Some parts, such as parts of the west curtain wall , the Marlot tower ( French Tour Marlot ) and the ground floor of the chapel , date from the 13th century from the first castle at this point. The complex has an almost triangular floor plan, which was determined by the shape of the subsoil. The corners are marked by two round towers and a slender square tower. The large, four- story Beaune Tower ( French Tour de Beaune ) with three-meter-thick walls stands on the east corner and was previously used as a prison, while the narrower Marlot Tower with its octagonal stair tower in front occupies the west corner. Both round towers have slate-covered , slightly bent conical roofs . The southern tip of the castle is occupied by a square tower with a high bent helmet , which is covered with the colorful glazed roof tiles typical of Burgundy . A stair tower with an inner spiral staircase is in front of it on the north side facing the castle courtyard . In the past, the square tower was connected to the 30 meter high residential tower next to it . However, this donjon is no longer preserved because it was demolished after the French Revolution. Today there is a terrace from which there is a good view of the place at the foot of the castle.

Entrance area with barbican

Access is from the north. A first drawbridge leads to a barbican. It grants access to a second drawbridge that leads to the three- story gatehouse with a slate roof. The coat of arms of the Pot family can be found above its arched gate, which is protected by two defensive walls. A number of machiculis provide further protection for the gate and the slip gate next to it . These Maschikulis can be reached from a partially covered battlement corridor, which crowns the entire north side and the northern part of the west curtain wall. From the outside, the battlements of the northern curtain wall can be seen very clearly. The battlements are closed with shutters. From the gate, the visitor enters the inner courtyard designed as a garden. The 72 meter deep fountain from 1228 is located there. Its wrought iron top is a copy of the top of the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune.

Castle chapel (left) and lodging (right) with the tower of the Virgin (center)

The logis with numerous transverse and cross-frame windows leans from the inside against the eastern and southeastern part of the curtain wall . Its courtyard facade bears a certain resemblance to the logis of the Châteauneuf-en-Auxois castle, because some of its architectural elements, such as the portholes , were modeled on models during the reconstruction of the local models during the reconstruction. The entrance of the Logis stair tower, called Tower of the Virgin ( French Tour de la vierge ), is also inspired by the one in Châteauneuf. The stair tower got its name from the statue of the Madonna that stands on a plinth above its entrance. Right next to the gate passage, the castle chapel dedicated to St. Mary leans against the northern curtain wall. Charles Suisse equated the ground floor of this building with the chapel mentioned in the 12th century, but so far there is nothing to indicate that the structure actually dates from that century. It is just as possible that the said chapel stood in the southwest corner of the old predecessor complex above the current castle. Rather, the ground floor of today's church building is a cellar, which is also mentioned in old descriptions of the castle.

On the inside of the west curtain wall is a building that used to be a barn . Its upper floor consists of half-timbered houses and used to house bedrooms for servants. Its roof is - like that of the Logis - covered with colorful roof tiles.

Interior

The living quarters of the castle are not only - as would have been customary in the Middle Ages and early modern times - in the logis, but also in the corner towers of the complex. The furnishings of the more than 30 rooms are kept in the style of historicism. Distinctive features are painted or stuccoed beam ceilings and monumental chimneys. The furniture was in the eclectic taste of the early 20th century, in which antiques were combined with replicas of medieval pieces.

Castle chapel

The single-nave chapel has a groin vault on its ground floor , which is supported by two central columns. The upper floor not only occupies the first floor, but also the top floor. The room served as living salon of the castle owners and is surrounded by a pointed barrel complete. The painting on the vault imitates a coffered ceiling . Each of the windows has a painted archivolt , the sculpture of which shows plants and a motto. The floor of the room consists of green and yellow glazed tiles , its two gable walls show paintings by Charles Lameire .

Marlot tower

The first floor of the Marlot Tower is occupied by the so-called Dagobert room with a four-poster bed . On the floor above is the room with the legend ( French Chambre à la légende ), with tapestries hanging on the walls . The painted fireplace shows the coat of arms of the Pot family under a keel arch, framed by depictions and ornaments of plants . The Chinese room ( French: Chambre chinoise ) is on the second floor . Its furnishings were a gift from the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi to Sadi Carnot, who at the time was still Minister for Public Works ( French Ministre des Travaux publics ).

Guard room , 1900–1920
Lord's room , 1900–1920
Lodging

On the ground floor of the Logis there are mainly functional rooms, while the lord's living rooms are on the upper floor. The hall of the guards ( French Salle des gardes ) is divided into two parts. A collection of medieval weapons can be seen in the first half. From there it goes over a few steps to the lower second part, which is equipped with a large fireplace in the neo-renaissance style and a painted beamed ceiling. From there a door leads to the ground floor of the Beaune tower , in which the captain's room ( French: Chambre du Capitaine ) is located. Its flooring is made of terracotta tiles, and which are still in the walls loopholes received. The large castle kitchen adjoins the guard room . Their walls show the unplastered ashlar masonry. The stove in the middle of the room also supplied the heating system installed during the reconstruction with warm water. The rest of the kitchen equipment dates from the 17th century. The neighboring room is the dining room, the interior of which dates from 1924. There are two large chimneys at the front. One of them is so big that a whole beef could be cooked on a spit over the fire. In the neo-renaissance style, it shows the coats of arms of all families who owned the castle on the lintel. The stucco ceiling of the room was made by Xavier Schanosky, the red and ocher-colored tiles of the floor are laid in a checkerboard pattern. The walls are painted with the initials of the Carnot family: a double C in a Gothic form, which alternates with plant ornaments in the Art Deco style.

The upper floor of the Logis can be reached via the stairs in the tower of the Jungfrau . It winds around a stone, central spindle in a twisted form. The stairwell is spanned by a ribbed vault, the keystones of which bear the coat of arms of the lords of the castle. The library is located on the first floor. Your stained glass window shows Guillaume and François de Montmorency and Anne Pot. The living rooms on the upper floor include the lord's room ( French: Chambre du seigneur ), a bedroom with red walls bearing the initials S and M for Sadi and Madeleine, and the children's room, whose floor tiles show the coats of arms and mottos of the Pot and families Carnot show.

literature

  • Sylvie Carnot, Laurent Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. L'esprit médiéval. Editions du Palais, Paris 2011, ISBN 979-10-90119-05-5 .
  • Josyane and Alain Cassaigne: 365 Châteaux de France. Aubanel, Geneva 2007, ISBN 978-2-7006-0517-4 , pp. 146-147.
  • Joseph Delissey: Le château de La Rochepot. In: Mémoires / Société d'Archéologie de Beaune (Côte-d'Or). Histoire, lettres, sciences et arts. Volume 52, 1961/63. Beaune 1963, ISSN  0248-6547 , pp. 41-59.
  • Thorsten Droste : Burgundy. Monasteries, castles, historic cities and the culture of viticulture in the heart of France. DuMont, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-7701-4166-0 , pp. 105-106 ( digitized version ).
  • Claude Frégnac: Merveilles des châteaux de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté. Hachette, Paris 1969, pp. 132-137.
  • Bernhard Laule, Ulrike Laule, Heinfried Wischermann: Art monuments in Burgundy. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1991, p. 438.
  • Laurent Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. De la forteresse gothique au château neo-gothique. In: Hervé Mouillebouche (ed.): Chastels et maisons fortes en Bourgogne II. Actes des Journées de castellologie de Bourgogne 1999-2007 . Center de castellologie de Bourgogne, Montceau-les-Mines, 2008, ISBN 978-2-9532994-0-3 , pp. 117-134 ( PDF ; 10.2 MB).
  • Rolf Toman, Ulrike Laule (ed.): Burgundy. Art, landscape, architecture. Tandem, Königswinter 2009, ISBN 978-3-8331-4436-3 , pp. 174-175.
  • Françoise Vignier: Aimer les châteaux de Bourgogne. Ouest-France, Rennes 1986, ISBN 2-85882-949-7 , p. 60.
  • Françoise Vignier: La Rochepot. In: Françoise Vignier (ed.): Le Guide des châteaux de France. Cote d'Or. Hermé, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-86665-015-8 , pp. 145-148.

Web links

Commons : La Rochepot Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b First entry of the castle in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ a b L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 117.
  3. ↑ a b c d L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 118.
  4. ↑ a b L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 119.
  5. ↑ a b c C. Frégnac: Merveilles des châteaux de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté. 1969, p. 135.
  6. ↑ a b C. Frégnac: Merveilles des châteaux de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté. 1969, p. 136.
  7. ↑ L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 120.
  8. ↑ a b c d e L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 122.
  9. ↑ a b c d History of the Castle , accessed December 26, 2019.
  10. ↑ L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 124.
  11. ^ J. and A. Cassaigne: 365 Châteaux de France. 2007, p. 146.
  12. ↑ a b L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 125.
  13. ↑ a b c d L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 126.
  14. ↑ L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 128.
  15. ↑ a b c d e broker website ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ a b Information on the arrest of the castle owners on the website of the French television channel France3 on October 16, 2018
  17. ^ Report on the website of the French TV channel France3 of November 12, 2018
  18. ↑ a b c d Les Châteaux-forts de Bourgogne database , keyword: La Rochepot , accessed on March 31, 2015.
  19. ↑ L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, pp. 119-120.
  20. ^ F. Vignier: La Rochepot. 1985, p. 146.
  21. ↑ Information about the fountain on the castle website ( Memento from May 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ Information on the Chinese Room on the castle's website ( Memento from May 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ L. Saccaro: Le château de La Rochepot. 2008, p. 131.

Coordinates: 46 ° 57 ′ 33 "  N , 4 ° 40 ′ 52"  E