The Château de La Roche is a restored
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
situated in the ''
commune'' of
Saint-Priest-la-Roche in the
Loire ''
département'' of France, 20 km from
Roanne.
[J.-E. Dufour]
''Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Loire''
. Retrieved 16 December 2018. The castle stands on an island in the lake formed by the Villerest dam.
History
The earliest written records of the castle date from 1260. It was built on a rocky platform overlooking the
Loire river from a height of 30 metres. The fortress allowed a watch to be kept and tolls to be collected for the
County of 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''.
The final "z" in Forez () is not pronounced in the Loire ...
border. The building suffered floods from the Loire more often than attacks from enemies.
In 1290, Girard de La Roche paid homage to the Count of Forez for his house in La Roche.
[
In the 17th century, because of repetitive floods, the castle lost its attraction, resembling more and more a fortified house that became a ruin in later centuries. At the end of the 1900s, an industrialist from Roanne bought the castle and restored it in the Gothic style, intending it as a second home.
During the 1930s, the construction project for the Villerest dam by ]EDF EDF may refer to:
Organisations
* Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association
* Education for Development Foundation, a Thai charity
* Électricité de France, a French energy company
** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary
** EDF Luminus, ...
condemned the château to disappear below the water. The structure degraded very quickly and was subject to numerous acts of vandalism. It was finally bought for a symbolic one franc by the ''commune''.
During the construction of the dam in 1984, the château was the only building spared by the waters. It is now situated on an island. In 1996, it was entirely restored and the side facing the water was remodelled to permit access throughout the year.
The regulation of the waters of the Loire have not fully protected the château; it was affected by floodwater in 2003 and 2008.
See also
* List of castles in France
References
External links
Château's website
* French Ministry of Culture
Photos taken in 1968 before valley flooded
Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Châteaux in Loire (department)
Water castles in France
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