Château d'Essalois

The Château d'Essalois is a restored castle in the commune of Chambles in the Loire département of France, overlooking a dammed portion of the river Loire, Lake Grangent.

The castle stands on a natural strategic strong point, inhabited by mankind since time immemorial. The very important Gallic oppidum (occupied by the Segusiavi from 170BC to 25BC) extended for 500m behind the castle in a place known as "le palais" (the palace). The remains of the oppidum walls are buried by broom. Finds of amphoras and coins during the archaeological excavations carried out by Preynat revealed the existence of an important wine trade with Italy, before the Roman occupation.

The oldest documents mentioning the castle are from the 14th century. The puy (hill) of Essalois is quoted in charters from 1337 onwards, variously named Podium deysaluym, Mons deysaluym and Suc du Pré.

In 1378, Arthaud de Villedieu paid homage to the Count of Forez for the house and the tower of Essalois which oversaw the Loire.

In 1464, the tower of Essalois belonged to Beraud de la Bâtie.

So far, the vestiges of this early construction have not been identified.

The castle as it currently appears was built mainly in 1580 by Léonard de Bertrand, Seigneur of Essalois and master of water and forests in Montbrison. In 1590, the castle was plundered by Catholic League troops commanded by Honore d'Urfé.

The seigniory which included Chambles, Périgneux, Saint-Marcellin and Saint-Rambert passed in the 17th century to the lords of Sury-le-Comtal, the De la Veuhes, and through them to the Sourdis family.

In 1671, Catherine d' Entraigues, widow of Pierre Sourdis, sold the seigniory to the Camaldolese monks at Val Jésus. The Camaldoleses kept the castle until 1798.

In the 18th century, the estate was sold as national property to Pierre Théollière of Réardière, and it then passed successively to several owners. It comprised then the old castle, consisting of two towers, a barn, farm buildings and stables, surrounded by wood, forests, meadows, rocks and heather, with approximately 718 smallholdings. This inventory of 1791 and studying the plans of the deed makes it possible to distinguish in the buildings at least two parts, of which the oldest is obviously the southern half comprising the two round towers.

Text adapted from “Château d'Essalois” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château d'Essalois ranks #6,292 of 7,787 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #471 of the 516 mapped in France. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lyon, 57 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗