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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de La Motte, located in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon on the left bank of the Rhône, occupies an artificial castral mot created during the Gallo-Roman era to protect itself from flooding. This strategic site, at the border between Dauphiné and Lyonnais, controlled roads east and south. Although archaeological excavations did not confirm pre-15th century occupation, the present castle, mixing medieval defensive elements (round towers, mâchicoulis, dungeon) and Renaissance developments, illustrates the transition between fortress and pleasure house. In the 18th century, its western wall was replaced by a terrace, and a chapel, now gone, was still visible in the 19th century.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was owned by the family of Villeneuve, of which Jean welcomed in 1476 the foundations of the Parliament of Grenoble. Humbert de Villeneuve, lieutenant general of Lyon and then president of the Parliaments of Toulouse and Burgundy, and his son Charles, Baron de Joux, marked his history before his sale in 1530 to Hugues du Puys, lieutenant of the seneschal. The estate, which extended over 17 hectares, became a prestigious reception place: in 1556 Cardinal Caraffa waited there for Henry II to give him a sword blessed by the pope, and in 1600 Mary of Medici dined there before her marriage with Henry IV. In 1622 Louis XIII, Anne of Austria and Richelieu met there, where a "small palace" and a theatre were built.

In the 17th century, the castle passed into the hands of the nuns of the convent of Saint Elizabeth, who acquired it gradually between 1655 and 1662. The Revolution transformed it into a national good: sold in 1791 to Pierre Étienne Verd, then expropriated in 1821 to give way to a military fort within the framework of the fortifications of Lyon under Louis-Philippe (1831–53). After becoming the Sergeant-Blandan barracks in 1942, the site housed 1,193 soldiers in 1864 before losing its strategic role. After the departure of the army in 1999, Greater Lyon acquired the estate in 2007 to make it an urban park, a project postponed after the failure of a hotel conversion in 2014. In 2024, it was scheduled to be converted into a reception facility in 2027.

The castle, which has been listed as a historic monument since 1983 and is fully classified in 2014, retains remarkable facades and roofs, as well as a commemorative plaque dedicated to General Toussaint Campi. Its dependencies of the sixteenth century (stables, barns, press) bear witness to its agricultural past. Despite recent deteriorations (partial collapse of the roof in 2022), its history reflects the political and social evolutions of Lyon, from the wars of Religion to the modern military vocation.

The coats of arms of the Villeneuve families (losangé d Whilst and D) and the Puys, as well as the traces of the arrangements for Marie de Medici or Louis XIII, recall his role as aristocratic residence. Historical sources, such as the works of Nicolas Cochard (1823) or Léonard Boitel (1843), document its heritage importance in the Lyon landscape, between medieval heritage and contemporary adaptations.

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