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Origin and history

The Château de Rochebonne, located in Theizé in the Rhône department, is an old fortified house rebuilt in the 15th century on the ruins of a building razed in 1363 during the Hundred Years War by the canons-counts of Lyon. Originally it served as a watch relay for the castle of Oingt, owned by the Fougères family. The building became more important after 1525, when Pierre de Châteauneuf de Rochebonne, sénéchal du Puy and governor of the Velay, married Huguette de Fougères, heiress of Oingt and Theizé, thus giving his current name to the castle.

In the 17th century, Charles de Châteauneuf, Marquis de Rochebonne and husband of Thérèse of Adhémar de Grignan (known as "the beautiful Rochebonne" by Madame de Sévigné), transformed the residence into a pleasure castle. Close to Marshal de Villeroy, governor of Lyon, Charles led a brilliant military career, but three of his four sons died young: Jean-Baptiste drowned in 1701, Louis at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. Only Charles-François, the future archbishop of Lyon, and Louis Joseph, bishop of Carcassonne survived. The castle, described as a house body flanked by two round towers with a triangular pediment, preserves remarkable interior elements such as 17th century panelling and trompe-l'oeil paintings.

In 1728 Charles-François sold the seigneury to Jean-Baptiste d'Audiffret, then in 1740 to Antoine Rique, whose niece and her husband, Jean-Baptiste de Nervo (father of pianist Hélène de Montgeroult), inherited it. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the castle deteriorated due to lack of maintenance, before being acquired in 1984 by the municipality of Theizé. Since then, it has been home to an oenological and tourist centre, hosting the Les Rendez-vous de Rochebonne chamber music festival. Ranked a historic monument in 1984, it preserves a 17th century parrot press and vaulted cellars, while its facades and roofs have been protected since 2023.

Architecturally, the castle blends medieval and classical styles, with an oriental façade remodeled during its conversion into an agricultural building. Its interior reveals a seigneurial chamber with period panelling, a large hall decorated with trompe-l'oeil, and commons inscribed as historical monuments. The site, open to the public, illustrates the evolution of a strong house in aristocratic residence, then in a cultural place, in the heart of the golden stone country in Beaujolais.

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