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Key figures

Origin and history

Ballore Castle, located in the eponymous village of Saône-et-Loire, is a rectangular building with a circular tower to the northwest. Private property not open to the public, it has been subject to continuous restorations since the 19th century, notably by its current owners, descendants of the Montessus family.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the castle was a fief of the Ballore family. In 1366 the line was extinguished with the death of Marie de Ballore, wife of Jean de Rabutin d'Epiry. Two centuries later, in 1576, the seigneurial house was ravaged by the Calvinists. Two years later, the estate was seized on Louis de Rabutin d'Epiry for the benefit of Léonor Chabot-Charny.

In 1581, Melchior Bernard de Montessus, governor of Chalon, inherited the castle and began its reconstruction. When he died in 1614, he bequeathed the earth to his grandson, provided that he finished the house and adjacent tower. The 19th century marked a phase of major restorations, while in the 20th century Guy-René Bernard de Montessus, the last owner of the name, sold the castle to his niece in 1965, after having inherited it in 1945.

Since 2008, the current owners, still related to the Montessus family, have continued the restoration of this historic Burgundian heritage.

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