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Origin and history

The Château des Roure, located in Labastide-de-Virac in the south of the Ardèche, is a fortress built at the end of the 14th century on the remains of an 11th century square tower. This first building monitored the major axis of the bridge of Arc, a nerve point between the Cevennes and the Rhône valley. The village, mostly Protestant, became a strategic issue during the Wars of Religion, notably under the possession of the seigneurs du Roure, a Huguenot family allied with the Beauvoir de Grimoard.

From the 16th century, the castle passed into the hands of Philippe Satel, lord of Barjac, and then to his descendants. In 1628 he welcomed the Duke of Rohan, a Protestant leader, before being partially dismantled in 1629 on the orders of Louis XIII and Richelieu: dungeon, scauguuettes and ramparts were razed to weaken his defensive capacity. After the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685), the Count of Roure abjure Protestantism. The site remains a hotbed of tension, as evidenced by its capture by the camisard Jean Cavalier in 1703, who burned the local church.

In the 19th century, the castle lost its military vocation to turn into a silkworm farm, a flourishing activity in the Ardèche until the First World War. Sold in 1825 to the Pradier family, an ancient farmhouse, the fortress became one of the largest regional magnaneries. Ranked a historic monument in 1978 for its facades, roofs and interior elements (scenes, fireplaces), the site is restored between 2013 and 2016, regaining its original defensive attributes (tours, mâchicoulis).

Since the 2000s, the castle combines heritage and animations: reconstruction of a trebuchet (2018), creation of a medieval park (2019), and maintenance of a cultural seric farming activity. The Silk Museum, opened in 2002, traces this industrial history, while the visits stage the wars of Religion and daily life in the Middle Ages. With 45,000 annual visitors, the site combines Protestant memory, military architecture and artisanal heritage.

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