Château de Chalmazel
Encyclopedia
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Chalmazel
Chalmazel
Chalmazel is a commune in the Loire department in central France.-Ski area:Chalmazel is a small ski resort situated above the village of Chalmazel in central France. The main activities offered at the resort are alpine skiing, nordic skiing, snowshoeing, ski touring, dog sledding and hiking...
, in the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
département of France. It is located in the Haut-Forez
Forez
Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire département and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme départements....
, between the towns of Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
and Thiers
Thiers, Puy-de-Dôme
Thiers is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Thiers is twinned with Bridgnorth, England and Schrobenhausen, Germany.Thiers is built upon a hillside along the Durolle river valley...
. Its name in medieval times was Saint-Jehan-des-Neiges. The castle dominates the valley of the Lignon
Lignon
Lignon is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France....
and it was built to be an impregnable fortress on the instructions of the Count of Forez.
History
Construction of the fortress began in 1231. The work was carried out by seigneurLord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
(Lord) Arnaud de Marcilly to the order of Guy IV du Forez who financed it. The site was covered by forest and almost inaccessible. Initially, it functioned rather as a fortified house, but it was transformed into a genuine medieval fortress, intended to counteract the ambitions of the powerful neighbours of the seigneurie
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of Couzan, then in the hands of the Damas family, linked to the Germanic emperor.
The castle appeared gloomy and severe, with four round towers dominated by a square keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, with no openings on the sides.
When Antoine de Marcilly died aged 25 with no direct heirs in 1371, the castle passed to his sister Béatrix, last of the Marcilly line. She had married Mathieu de Talaru in 1364; thus the seigneurie of Chalmazel passed to the Talarus, an old noble family from the Lyonnais
Lyonnais
The Lyonnais is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.The geographical area known as the Lyonnais became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire...
.
Following the destruction of the Château de Marcilly, the Talarus withdrew to the castle at Chamazel and, in 1400, they built the ramparts, in the form of a pentagonal enceinte
Enceinte
Enceinte , is a French term used technically in fortification for the inner ring of fortifications surrounding a town or a concentric castle....
and added machicolations to the keep. After the incorporation of Forez
Forez
Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire département and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme départements....
into the Kingdom of France, the Talarus served the king in his armies.
During the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, the Marquis
Marquis
Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
de Talaru, returning from the Italian Wars
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
, added Renaissance style embellishments: openwork facade, galleries to the inner court, painting in the chapel, sculptures.
But the winters were harsh, and from 1533, the Talarus preferred to live in their Château d'Écotay or in Saint-Marcel-de-Félines, acquired by marriage in 1559. Chalmazel was transformed into a summer residence and began to be neglected.
In the 18th century, the Talarus inherited by marriage the Château de Chamarande
Château de Chamarande
The château de Chamarande is a 17th century French château in Chamarande, in the department of Essonne.- History :The first "castle" of this name was established at Bonnes around 811 by Arteld, missus dominicus and brother of Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer...
, near Arpajon
Arpajon
Arpajon is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Seat of the canton, the commune is located south of Paris, accessible by the N20, and to in the north of Étampes...
, to the south of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and they moved there to be closer to Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
where Louis de Talaru held important posts in the royal court and the army. They abandoned the castle in 1650, carrying out only the most urgent work. The castle began a slow but sure deterioration.
In 1850, Louis-Justin, last Marquis of Talaru, 25th lord of Chalmazel, peer of France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
and ambassador, with no heirs, left the castle and the forest to the nuns of the Sœurs de Saint-Joseph, in order to establish a hospital for the canton
Cantons of France
The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
for the care of the sick.
The nuns carried out some repair work (roof, round walk, rebuilding a tower) and decoration. Later, they transformed it into a boarding school for children from the school at Chamazel.
The nuns finally left the castle in 1972 and rented it to the commune, on condition that it was maintained and opened to the public during the summer months.
The castle is now owned by new proprietors who intend to open it to visitors and to create chambres d'hôtes (bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
accommodation).
Tourism
The castle, with its medieval aspect, has kept the elements of a fortified house from the year 1231, but with all of the later modifications and additions by the Talarus over the centuries: murder holes, walls, keepKeep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, round walk with machicolations - but it also has Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
elements: the facade, the inner courtyard, galleries and chapel.
The castle is open to visitors from June to September. It is possible to rent rooms and a suite.
The Château de Chalmazel is listed as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
by the French Ministry of Culture.