Château de Chouvigny is a

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 ...

at Chouvigny in the Sioule valley in the

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

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

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Location

The castle dominates the valley of the Sioule, at a spot where the gorges, called the ''gorges de Chouvigny'', enlarge. It is approximately 300 metres south east of the town of Chouvigny. The road which climbs from the Sioule towards the town passes behind the castle and serves as its entrance.

History

The castle is the cradle of the Chauvigny family which by marriage in the 13th century became Chauvigny de Blot. At the start of the 15th century, the castle passed by marriage to the Montmorin family, then, with the marriage in 1543 of Françoise de Montmorin and Jean Motier de La Fayette, lord of Hautefeuille, to the family of La Fayette. In the 17th century, it belonged to the great-grandson of Jean, François de La Fayette; his wife,

Madame de La Fayette Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette (baptized 18 March 1634 – 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer; she authored ''La Princesse de Clèves'', France's first historical novel and one ...

, stayed there. Under the Second Empire, Chouvigny belonged to the

duc de Morny Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, 1st Duc de Morny (; 15/16 September 181110 March 1865) was a French statesman. Biography Morny was born in Switzerland, and was the extra-marital son of Hortense de Beauharnais (the wife of Louis Bonaparte ...

. The castle is privately owned. Unusually, for such a structure, it is not 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, ...

'' 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 ...

Sources

Val de Sioule website: Château de Chouvigny

Bibliography

* René Germain (dir.), Dominique Laurent, Maurice Piboule, Annie Regond et Michel Thévenet, ''Châteaux, fiefs, mottes, maisons fortes et manoirs en Bourbonnais'', Éd. de Borée, 2004, 684 p. (), p. 306-307. Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Allier Historic house museums in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Museums in Allier {{France-castle-stub

Location

History

See also

Sources

Bibliography