Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The château of Lourdon, mentioned in the ninth century as a castrum and seat of a viguria, was integrated in 910 with the donation of the Count of Mâcon to the monk Bernon to found the abbey of Cluny. He served as residence for the abbots of Cluny in the 11th century, then became a strategic issue in the face of the lay lords, causing royal interventions under Louis VII and Philippe Auguste. These conflicts laid the foundation for Mâcon County's attachment to the crown.

In the 12th century, the castle was attacked by William I of Chalon, and in the 14th century became a refuge for the monks, their archives and treasures. Ravaged in 1470 by the troops of Louis XI and looted by those of Charles the Temerary (1471-1476), it was restored at the end of the 15th century by Abbé Jean de Bourbon. In 1574, Protestants partially destroyed it, before it was rebuilt in 1586 by Claude de Guise, who added a palm game and a fortified enclosure.

In 1593, the castle resisted an attack by the supporters of Henri de Navarre with a cannon now exposed to the Invalides. Dismantled in 1632 after tensions with the crown, it was sold as a national good in 1791 and has since remained in the same family. Since 2013, Castrum Lordo has been working to preserve it. The ruins, located on a trapezoidal platform, include towers, basements and a 15 hectare wooded park surrounded by a 16th century enclosure.

The site, private property, exceptionally opens during Heritage Days. Recent excavations (since 2012) confirmed that the building attributed to a palm game was one, built under Claude de Guise. An armored cartridge from 1586 and 7.50-metre-high pillars testify to this. The forecourt, protected by a ditch, and a chapel Saint-Étienne (restored in the 19th century) complete the whole.

The castle illustrates Cluny's turbulent history, between abbatial power, feudal conflicts and royal stakes. Its transformations reflect military evolutions (donjon, artillery terraces) and cultural (palm game), while its 3-km enclosure, punctuated with 12 towers, emphasizes its defensive role until its dismantling in the seventeenth century.

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