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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Besanceuil Castle, located in Bonnay-Saint-Ythaire (Saône-et-Loire), is a monument dating back to the 14th century. The rectangular house body, flanked by three quadrangular towers and a turret, is one of the few remains of the initial construction (1383-1385). In 1466, a tower of stairs was added to the screw, while later developments, notably in the 17th century, transformed the building: lowering of the walls, building a stone gate and redevelopment of the interiors, partially erasing the sill windows.

In the 17th century, the castle passed into the hands of noble families: Jean de Mincé in 1586 by marriage, then Jean-Baptiste de Prisk in 1645, whose descendants remained owners until the Revolution. In the 18th century, a new wing and outbuildings (common, dovecote) were erected at the site of the old cemetery. Interiors preserve remarkable decorations, such as 18th-century ground woodwork, mythological paintings, and 19th-century wallpapers in one of the towers.

Ranked a historic monument in 2008, the castle includes in its protection the house, the communes, the dovecote and the courtyards. Private property, it does not visit, but its architecture reflects the stylistic and functional evolutions of a seigneurial home, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The sources also mention its inscription in the local landscape, on the slope side west of the village of Bonnay.

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