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Origin and history

The Château de la Bellière, located in Champfrémont in the department of Mayenne (Pays de la Loire), is mentioned for the first time in 1478. In the 17th century, the family of Les Portes built a house there, which passed in 1695 by marriage to the family of Vaucelles de Ravigny. This fief, originally part of the chestnut of the Poôté, was described in 1780 as a "castle with beautiful avenues and two ponds", of which only one remained at the end of the 19th century, fed by a tributary of the Sarthon.

Between 1790 and 1813 Emmanuel-Alexandre de Vaucelles de Ravigny had the castle rebuilt by architect Delarue, adding interior decorations in the style of Directionoire-Empire. The chapel of Saint-Hubert, originally linked to the Château de Ravigny, was served there in 1791. The estate, including moat, gardens and commons of the 17th and 19th centuries, has been listed as historical monuments since 6 September 1995. It then passes by inheritance to the Méry de Bellegarde, also owners of the forest next to Multonne.

The Vaucelles de Ravigny, a Poitevin family established at the Bellière since the 17th century, bear coats of arms "silver to the head of Gules, charged with seven billets of gold". Their archival holdings, preserved at the Departmental Archives of Vienna, testify to their regional anchoring. The castle, symbol of their seigneurial power, illustrates the architectural evolution of noble residences between the Ancient Regime and the post-revolutionary period.

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