The Château de Vieillevie is a mediaeval

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 Vieillevie in the

Cantal Cantal (; or ) is a rural Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flou ...

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. The castle is located in the centre of the village on a small rocky hill next to the

Mairie In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The original construction dates from the 11th century, with modifications in the 15th and 16th centuries. It consists of a rectangular main building - the ''

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal or main block, or central building of a mansion, country or manor house, castle, or palace. It contains the rooms of principal business, the state apartments and the ceremonial or formal ...

'' - with, on the north, a short wing set back on the eastern side. On the south west and north west corners are circular towers. Unusually, the castle still has its wooden

hoarding Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials ...

and

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

s. Inside, four beautiful 13th century monumental chimney places have been preserved. The rooms have ceilings covered in beams. It has been listed since 1993 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 ...

. The castle is open to visitors on certain days in the summer months, with candlelit tours some evenings.Tourisme-Entraygues
Château de Vieillevie
/ref>

References

External links

*
Château de Vieillevie
on the Tourisme-Entraygues website. Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Monuments historiques of Cantal {{France-castle-stub

See also

References

External links