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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de Beaurepaire-en-Bresse, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, stands on the foundations of a strong house attested from 1275. Originally owned by Hugues IV d'Antigny, it then moved to the family of Vienna before being acquired in the 15th century by the Beaurepaire, who perhaps partially rebuilt the building. The site preserves medieval cellars, while its current structure, rectangular and girdled with ditches, incorporates 18th and 19th century changes.

The chapel of the castle, located to the west, is distinguished by its gypsum decorations and carved panels, typical of the interior arrangements of the aristocratic houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The estate, surrounded by walls and accessible by a sleeping bridge, was closed from a park transformed into pastures. Although private property not open to the public, it has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1997 for its facades, roofs, ditches, bridge and chapel.

The history of the castle is marked by successive noble families: the d-Antigny (XIIIth century), the Vienna (late XIIIth–XIVth), and then the Beaurepaire from the 15th century, of which Thibaud may have been at the origin of a reconstruction. At the beginning of the 21st century, Count Paul-Ivan Lefebvre de Saint-Germain, descendant of the Beaurepaire by his mother Odile, undertook important restoration work (2000–2009), thus preserving this emblematic local heritage.

Historical sources mention a declaration of franc-alleu in 1503 by Jean de Beaurepaire, stressing the seigneurial status of the estate. Local archives and publications, such as those of Françoise Vignier or Count Paul-Ivan Lefebvre de Saint-Germain, document its architectural evolution and its anchor in the history of Bressane. Today, the castle remains a symbol of pride for the village, although its access is reserved for its owners.

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