Rochefort Castle (Asnières-en-Montagne)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Château de Rochefort, gatehouse (2011)

The Rochefort Castle ( French Château de Rochefort ) is the ruin of a castle in Asnières-en-Montagne , a town in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region .

Rochefort Castle is one of the few examples of pre- Renaissance architecture in France. Parts of the complex - the outbuildings (communs) - were inhabited until 1956, while the six-tower mansion had been uninhabited for a long time.

The complex has had the status of a monument historique since October 30, 1974 , but effective structural measures have only been in place since 2018 to stop further deterioration.

history

The complex was probably built on older fortifications in the 12th century. A document mentioning the name Rupes fortis dates back to 1196, the name of the ruler at that time is given as Eymon . From the 13th century there are mentions of lords of the castle from the von Rochefort family , before the castle was razed on the orders of Johann Ohnefurcht (1371-1419) .

Jacques Coictier (1430–1506), chamberlain and personal physician to Louis XI. (1423–1483), bought the complex and built the manor house that still exists at the end of the 15th century. In 1501 the Rochefort family bought the complex back and possibly extended it to the east, including a chapel. Denis Languet , Chamber Procurator of the Parlement de Dijon, later acquired the facility . In the 17th century, niches were added to the massive gate building, the raised terrace and the retaining wall .

Around 1789 the La Guiche family bought the castle. In the early 1970s, attempts to secure the ensemble resulted in overgrowth and even accelerated decay. In 1974 parts of the complex were placed under monument protection (Monument historique). In 2002, under the name of Les clefs de Rochefort, an association was founded which, as part of Union Rempart, tries to secure and maintain the ensemble. Conferences and an annual medieval market were held to finance the project .

Roofing of the gatehouse, 2019

In 2015, the French state demanded effective measures from the owners to maintain the palace complex. After the Laguiche family lost their trial against the state requirements in 2016, they sold the castle to Les clefs de Rochefort for one symbolic euro in 2017 . Work to maintain the facility has been ongoing since 2018, initially by erecting a roof over the gate building. The work is partly funded by the French state and partly by the Stéphane Mission Foundation in Bern .

Web links

Commons : Chateau de Rochefort (Asnières-en-Montagne)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 42 ′ 54 ″  N , 4 ° 15 ′ 39 ″  E