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Origin and history

The Château de Venière is located on the town of Boyer, in Saône-et-Loire, on a terrace overlooking the river Saône. Its current architecture, dated 1862, replaces an earlier building demolished by Claude-Jules-Émile de Franc. The estate consists of a rectangular house body flanked by two conical towers, preceded by a horse-drawn iron staircase. Inside, a neo-renaissance fireplace of the old castle was re-installed in the dining room. The gardens retain a lime alley and a historic well.

The first records of the estate date back to 1408, when Étienne de Barrin de Champrond owned it. Over the centuries, the seigneury changed hands: it passed to the Galland in 1568, then incorporated the goods of the Chalon chapter in the 17th century. During the Revolution, the castle was confiscated as a national property and acquired by a certain assault. In the 19th century, the heirs of the latter gave it to Claude-Jules-Émile de Franc, who began its reconstruction in 1862. By marriage, the property was then owned by the families of Froissard de Broissia (1895) and then the Boscs (1956).

The present castle, in eclectic style, combines neo-renaissance elements and classical architectural details, such as the bossing chains or the carved skylight of the central forebody. Although private and closed to the public, the site bears witness to the evolution of a seigneurial estate in Burgundy, marked by reconstructions and family transmissions over more than five centuries. The coats of arms of the families of Froissard de Broissia (dazur to the deer passing by gold) and of the Boscs (dior to three oaks of sinople) recall these successive inheritances.

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