The Château d'Arcelot is a castle situated around from

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

in the Arceau commune of

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The building was completed in 1765. The castle was enlisted as a French

Monument Historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

on 22 September 1948. On 30 April 1999 its gardens were included in the listing.

History

The castle's origins can be traced back to 1217. The chapel forming part of the current castle is of that date. The first of the current buildings were the work of Philibert Verchère senior between 1711 and 1720, consisting of two wings. The main house was completed by his grandson, Philibert junior, a servant to the Parlement de Bourgogne. It was built to a design by the architect Thomas Dumorey between 1761 and 1765, and was the first château in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

to be built in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

. The castle remained in the same family until 1870, when the last of the line, Guillaume Verchère, died childless. He bequeathed the castle to his nephew, Ernest de Carrelet de Loisy. Today, the castle remains in the family of Carrelet de Loisy d'Arcelot.

Architecture

The new building is wedged between two older buildings of 1711 (the former hunting house and chapel); the original plan was to demolish them, but in the end they were retained. The château's Great Hall (1765) has an unusual coloured

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

style, and is listed with one star in the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

, as is its park.

Park and gardens

At the rear of the castle is a park, with a lake, laid out by the

landscape gardener Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

Jean-Marie Morel Jean-Marie Morel (28 March 1728 – 10 August 1810), the author of ''La Théorie des Jardins'' (Paris 1776), was a trained architect and surveyor, who produced a substantial and popular work advocating the "natural" landscape style of gardening in ...

around 1805 (with a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

: a Chinese pavilion). It is one of the few of his designs still in existence.

References

External links

* Official website * Château d'Arcelot page on the cadole.eu website Châteaux in Côte-d'Or Houses completed in 1765 Monuments historiques of Côte-d'Or {{France-castle-stub