Château de Billy

The Château de Billy is a ruined 13th – 14th century castle in the town of Billy in the Allier département of France.

For the first several centuries of its existence, the Château de Billy was the property of its builders, the Bourbons. The fortified town of Billy and the province of Bourbonnais were part of the domain of the lordship of the Bourbons. Both the castle and the lordship remained powerful until the French Revolution (1789).

The main fortification has an ovoid layout with a hexagonal watchtower which dominates the houses of the town and the medieval streets that curve around the walls of the castle. An imposing châtelet guards the entrance. The southern curtain wall has a walkway that offers a splendid panorama of the Allier valley.

The castle is privately owned and open to the public. It has been listed since 1921 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

Text adapted from “Château de Billy” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château de Billy ranks #2,823 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #219 of the 469 mapped in France. Founded c. 1350, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,205 times in the last 60 days, more than 53% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗