The Château de Chalencon is a feudal monument situated in the hamlet of Chalencon, about 1 kilometre north east of the village of

Saint-André-de-Chalencon Saint-André-de-Chalencon (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Loire department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună ...

, in the

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 ...

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 ...

'', in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region of France.Ministry of Culture
Ruines du château

History

It is the birthplace of the illustrious Chalencon family, later allied with the Polignacs, one of the most important of

Velay Velay () is a historical area of France situated in the east Haute-Loire ''Département in France, département'' and southeast of Massif central, Massif Central. History Julius Caesar mentioned the vellavi as the subordinate of the arverni. ...

. In the Middle Ages, Chalencon was a strategic site on the route between Velay and

Forez Forez (; ) is a Provinces of France, former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire (department), Loire ''département in France, département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''dépa ...

. The castle was built in the 10th century to control the route, and particularly the ''pont du Diable'' (Devil's Bridge) below the castle which was the sole crossing point of the Ance and subject to a toll."VESTIGES DU CHÂTEAU DE CHALENCON"
''Petit Futé''. Retrieved 20 November 2019. The castle was best known for its battle between

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

's army and the Prussian Captain Herlter. It is said that 100 men were killed in this battle (known as the "battle against life"); the hero of this battle was Belotus de Veyrac, a noble and Count of Veyrac. The battle was brought to the screen by a young director. Today, to celebrate the battle, on June 28, many people gather on the site. There is a controversy because the niches are the work of the architects of Viollet-le-Duc, a medieval site restorer under Napoleon III. Given the location of the tower, it was more likely a flat tower where a fire was maintained during the misty winter nights so that merchants and pilgrims could spot each other.

Description

The remains of the Château de Chalencon are on the summit of a rocky outcrop dominating the Ance river, consisting of three terraces at different levels, of which one, to the west, overlooks the village. There is a

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, a round

fortified tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of ...

at the top with

crenellation A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

s, two corner turrets, partly rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, and some windows from the end of the 13th century. The castle was definitively abandoned around 1600. It has been listed 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, ...

'' since 1913. The chapel seems to date from the end of the 11th century, with alterations in later times including the construction of a large window in the 15th century. The keep and the tower were classified as monuments historiques on 15 November 1913, the chapel on 10 September 1913. It is not far from the 12th century Devil's Bridge (historic monument) and the ruins of the so-called prefecture building that would have housed the administration's justice rooms. There is evidence of the existence of a pagan cult (the Chalencon rock basins on the right when arriving at the village, including the ''Chaise des lutins'' or

lutin A () is a type of hobgoblin (an amusing goblin) in French folklore and fairy tales. Female lutins are called (). A ''lutin'' (varieties include the '' Nain Rouge'' or "red dwarf") plays a similar role in the folklore of Normandy to househo ...

's chair). File:Chalencon_(Haute-Loire)_Rampe1.JPG, Gateway on the ramp leading from the village to the castle. Above, the

bell-gable The bell gable (, , ) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small hollow semi-circular arches where the church bells are ...

of the chapel. File:P8020088_Chalencon_(Haute-Loire)_Château1.JPG, Inside the

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...

. File:Chalencon_(Haute-Loire)_Château6.JPG, View of the tower. File:Château_et_église_de_Chalancon_(Haute-Loire,_Fr).JPG, The castle (left) and chapel (right).

Today

In 2015, the commune allocated 100,000 euros to develop tourist facilities around the castle."Un projet d aménagement touristique au château de Chalencon"
''Le Progrès'', 27 October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2019 The castle itself is private and the property of the Polignac family.

References

Bibliography

* Jourda de Vaux Gaston, ''Les Châteaux Historiques de la Haute-Loire'', Éditions de la Société Académique du Puy-en-Velay et de la Haute-Loire, Le Puy-en-Velay, 1911 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalencon, Chateau de Ruined castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Monuments historiques of Haute-Loire Buildings and structures in Haute-Loire