The Château de Saint-Ilpize is a ruined
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 ...
in the ''
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
'' of
Saint-Ilpize
Saint-Ilpize (; oc, Sent Ilpize) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.
Population
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Ilpize in its geography at the given years. In 1845 t ...
in the
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger 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, ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...
'' of France. The medieval town of Saint-Ilpize clings to a
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
rock on which stands the castle. Within the castle's walls is a 14th-century chapel built of polychromatic
tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as traverti ...
; a basalt gable wall houses the church bells.
[Green Guide ''Auvergne, Rhône Valley'', Michelin, 1995, page 50 ]
History
The first recorded mention of a fortified construction is from 1030; the castle was modified in the 14th and 16th centuries. The chapel dates form the 12th century. The castle was the property of the
Dauphins of Auvergne
This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne.
History
In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The c ...
. With rapidly added ''
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 position. For ...
s'', the Dauphins of Auvergne were able to control the
Allier river
The Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a river in central France. It is a left tributary of the Loire. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère department, east of Mende. It flows generally north. It joins the Loire west of the city of Ne ...
gorges.
[ Château et sa chapelle]
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
the castle was an important
châtelain
Châtelain (from la, castellanus, derived from ''castellum''; pertaining to a castle, fortress. Middle English: ''castellan'' from Anglo-Norman: ''castellain'' and Old French: ''castelain'') was originally the French title for the keeper of a ...
, Saint-Ilpize being one of the ''treize bonnes villes d'Auvergne'' (thirteen good towns of Auvergne) which had supported
Charles VII during the
Praguerie
The Praguerie was a revolt of the French nobility against King Charles VII from February to July 1440.
It was so named because a similar rising had recently taken place in Prague, Bohemia, at that time closely associated with France through th ...
revolt of 1440.
In 1424, Blanche Dauphine, inheritor of the manor, married Jean de Lespinasse. In 1480, the property passed to the house of Amboise, and, in the 16th century, to the house of Rochefoucauld-Langeac.
The castle and the chapel have been listed since 1907 as a ''
monument historique'' by the
French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual ...
.
Description
The curtain walls are dominated by the former chapel and a square tower which now serves as a bell tower. Successive ''enceintes'', flanked with towers, surrounded the lower courtyards and sections of the town which, by the 16th century, extended as far as the banks of the Allier. Only the uppermost ''enceinte'', which protected the manor house, still appears as a solid structure at the summit of the hill. The roughly circular ''enceinte'', made up of irregular stretches of wall, is accessed by a ramp leading from the church. Several
chicane
A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
s,
bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
s and
postern
A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a poster ...
s defended the access to the lower courtyard which was reached through an arched gateway, now destroyed.
See also
*
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or viney ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Ilpize, Chateau De
Ruined castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Monuments historiques of Haute-Loire