The Château de Beaufort is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
located along the upper reaches of the river
Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...
in France. It is near the village of
Goudet in the ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' of
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (; or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Canta ...
, in the
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France.
As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
. It was built in the 13th century and modified in the 15th and 16th centuries. Perched on a rocky headland overhanging the granitic rocks of the
Margeride, the fortress is today a ruined shell.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
stopped here on his trip documented in ''
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes
''Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes'' (1879) is one of Robert Louis Stevenson's earliest published works and is considered a pioneering classic of outdoor literature.
Background
Stevenson was in his late 20s and still dependent on his par ...
'' (1879).
"In this pleasant humour I came down the hill to where Goudet stands in a green end of a valley, with Château Beaufort opposite upon a rocky steep, and the stream, as clear as crystal, lying in a deep pool between them."
History
Built for surveillance and domination of the Loire valley, the castle provides an interesting example of how a 13th-century feudal castle could be adapted to the evolution of military construction, notable with the development of artillery. During the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
and the
Wars of Religion it was of historical importance but after the
French Revolution it fell victim to a gradual abandonment which reduced it to the state of ruin. The site includes an ''enceinte'', partly rebuilt in the 15th century, which surrounded the fortress halfway up the hill.
The castle itself was, right from the start, of square plan with a courtyard occupied on the south by a residence. In the 16th century, Antoine de la Tour added a tower in the north-western corner, a large horseshoe-shaped tower in the south-western corner, and other walls, parts of which remain on the north and south sides, the latter with a corner tower. with turn of angle.
Inside the ''enceinte'', the vestiges on the ground or hidden provide little help to suggest how the inhabited parts were divided. In the north-east, are remnants of an arched room and a chimney. The 15th-century tower was reinforced internally by a second wall and was pierced with holes for archers and cannons.
It has been listed since 1994 as a ''
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 collection of buildings, ...
'' by the
French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...
.
See also
*
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Regions of France, region and Departments of France, department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are p ...
References
External links
* , includes pictures
Google English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufort, Chateau De
Ruined castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Monuments historiques of Haute-Loire
Robert Louis Stevenson