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Origin and history

The Château de La Murette, also called Maison fort Vachon or Château des Champs, is an old fortified house built in the 16th century on a height of the village of La Murette, in Isère (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). The building, rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries, retains medieval architectural elements despite the disappearance of a quarter of its original structure. Its facades, roofs, a library decorated with murals and a hall with fireplace have been protected since 1982 as historical monuments. Private property, it remains visible from the surrounding trails and the departmental road 520.

The first written mention of the site dates back to 1375, with an ecclesiastical register evoking the Priory of Saint Martin of Mureta. The Gumin family, including Aymar (priest in 1475) and Peter (Lord in 1579), had the strong house until 1615. The castle then passed to Pierre de Fillon, adviser to the Parliament of Grenoble, then to François de Vachon in 1661. This family, seigneurial up to the Revolution, adds expanded windows, Louis XIV style woodwork and fireplaces in noble rooms. Confiscated as a national good in 1794 after the emigration of Louis François de Vachon, the castle illustrates the political upheavals of the late 18th century.

Architecturally, the castle consists of two wings by square framing a central courtyard reduced by the addition of a room flanked by a staircase tower with screws. The ancient murals, still visible in some rooms, bear witness to his aristocratic past. Although closed to the public, the estate is accessible via a gate from the ascent of the Enclos du Château, 700 meters east of the village. The Viron train station, less than five kilometres away, makes it easy to access from Grenoble or Lyon.

The castle embodies the evolution of fortified houses into seigneurial residences under the Old Regime. Its history reflects alliances between noble families (Gumin, Fillon, Vachon) and Grenoblois judicial institutions, while bearing the traces of architectural transformations linked to the tastes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The protection of its interior and exterior elements in 1982 underscores its heritage value, despite its current use of private property not open to visit.

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