The Château de Ventadour 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 ...

in the '' commune'' of

Tournon-sur-Rhône Tournon-sur-Rhône (; , before 1988: ''Tournon'') is a commune in the Ardèche department of southern France. It is one of the most populous communes in the Ardèche department, after Annonay, Aubenas, and Guilherand-Granges. Geography It i ...

in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.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. Situated to the south east of Meyras, the castle has architectural elements dating from the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th centuries.

Geography

The castle is situated 74 m above the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of Fontolière and

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of Meyras belonged to the Solignacs. In 1195, the lord of Montlaur married Miracle de Solignac and her brother, Béraud de Solignac, relinquished to them the fief. The Solignacs left at the end of the 14th century, and in 1472 the lord of Meyras married Blanche de Ventadour. The castle was not inhabited again and, at the time of the French Revolution, was described as destroyed. After the Revolution, it was largely used as a stone quarry. A painting by

Jules Thibon Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). In the anglosphere, it is also used for females although it is still a predominantly masculine name.One of the few notable examples of a femal ...

, ''Les ruines du château de Ventadour'', painted in 1860 and in a private collection, shows its state in the 19th century. Since 1969, it has been the object of a restoration project by Pierre and Françoise Pottier and a handful of volunteers. Visitors can see a square tower, two pigeon lofts and a

fortified gateway A fortified gateway is an element of a variety of fortified structures, such as a castle or city wall, walled town. Fortified gates or gateways appear in the Bronze Age and reach into the modern times. City gate Gatehouse ''Torburg'' In Ger ...

. The castle was restored by the voluntary work organisation,

Union REMPART Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Union ...

Architecture

The castle plan is based on the typical

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

castle model, the

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 ...

being attached to the surrounding wall. According to research works on site and a paper by Georges Grégoire, the oldest part of the castle is the square keep. The exterior fortification is accessible via a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

. The square tower in the north east corner comprises vaulted rooms. The square tower in the south west corner is topped by two

bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging turret projecting from the walls of late-medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th c ...

s dating from work carried out in the 14th century. It has been listed since 1927 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 ...

, with additional protection in 1938 and 1960.

External links

Château de Ventadour
- official site *

References

Ruined castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Monuments historiques of Ardèche {{france-castle-stub

Geography

Architecture

See also

External links

References