The Château du Sou, situated at the bottom of the Morgon valley, is a converted

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

Lacenas Lacenas () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. Twin towns — sister cities * Canale d'Agordo in Italy ''(since 2006)'' See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the R ...

, west of Villefranche-sur-Saône, in the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

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. It is privately owned. It is available for receptions, weddings, themed events etc.

History

It was probably Jean de Thélis-L'Espinasse who built the castle. He became Governor and Lieutenant-General of

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine in the Burgundy wine, Burgundy region. Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in grape tannins, tannin, but like most ...

in 1369. He married Artaude de Charnay; their son Jean married Agnès Vert, dame de Valprivas, but died without issue and the succession passed to their nephew, Jocerand. He was a squire of the Lord of Beaujel to whom he gave homage for Sou in 1475, as did his nephew and successor Antoine in 1506. Antoine married his cousin Jeanne de Saint-Romain, dame de Valorges; their son Louis married Jacqueline de Salemard. In 1539, Louis de Thélis sold the castle to Claude de Gaspard. In the 16th century, one of the descendants, Jean, Lieutenant-General of the

Bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

of Beaujolais, married Claudine de Tenay. Claude, lord of Sou, married Marguerite de la Porte in 1577; he was a counsellor to the King and General Receiver of Taxes in the Généralité of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. In the 17th century, Marc, lord of Sou, married Sibylle de Saint-Amour around 1690 and gave the castle to his brother Joseph Marie, a superior priest at the seminary of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and French Revolution and the château was sold as a national property. It is now owned by several proprietors who share the estate.

Architecture

Construction work, in the golden stone of the region, dates from approximately 1369. The fortified '' enceinte'', dotted with

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, forms an almost perfect square. There remain some traces of

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

s and the

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

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 ...

has three upper storeys as well as the ground floor. A Gothic chapel contains sculptures, including two angel heads. On the northern side, the fortified gateway is decorated with 13

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

s or coats of arms: at the top is the blazon of the Gaspards, to the left are six more of the same and, to the right, six other blazons relating to their wives. During the Revolution, these blazons were damaged by hammer blows. The fortified gateway was listed on 21 February 1933 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 ...

. Image:Château du Sou 2.JPG, Image:Château du Sou 3.JPG, Image:Château du Sou 4.JPG, Image:Château du Sou 5.JPG,

Park and gardens

A park, including a medieval garden, surrounds the château. The public lavoir situated at the entrance to the lane leading to the château is fed by the fountain.

References

Bibliography

* ''Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers de Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem'', by l'abbé de Vertot (Paris, 1830) * ''Histoire du Beaujolais et des sires de Beaujeu'', by Ferdinand La Roche La Carelle (Lyon, 1853)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sou, Chateau du Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Monuments historiques of Rhône (department)