Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Montfort, locally known as the Château Robert, is an ancient castle of which today only remains imposing ruins, located north of Crolles, in Isère. Its name, from the Latin Montis Fortis ("mountain fort"), evokes its strategic position on a natural promontory. The first written traces date back to 1069 in the cartular of Domène, suggesting the existence of a castral motte before the stone construction.

The building of the stone castle dates from the 13th century, under the possession of the dolphins of Vienna. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Grande Dauphine Béatrice de Faucigny lived there, when the main buildings were probably built. An investigation of 1339 describes a fortified complex composed of a circular enclosure of 47 toises, a square tower of 28 meters with four floors, heated rooms, a kitchen, and rooms. The entrance, protected by a gate topped by a guardroom, illustrates its defensive role.

In 1343, the dolphin Humbert II, the last of his lineage, gave the castle in fief to Amblard de Beaumont, whose family kept it until 1617, despite its already ruined state. The site then passed into the hands of several local families, including the Guérin (from 1717), then the Barrals and Bernis, still owners today. The ruins, partly hidden by a dense forest, are shaped like a hill in half moon, with remains of walls, an enclosure of nearly 100 meters, and traces of inner courtyards.

The castle dominates the Gresivaudan valley and the hamlet of Montfort, located between Crolles and Lumbin, below the cliffs of the Chartreuse. Accessible by a trail from the hamlet or the departmental road 1090, the site is the subject of excavations and consolidations by the association Les Raisonneurs de pierre. A safe area has been built there because of the risk of collapse.

External links