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Origin and history

The castle of Belvoir, built at the end of the 12th and at the beginning of the 13th century by the founders of the house of Belvoir, passes to the family of Cusance in the 14th century. Faithful to the Dukes of Burgundy, the Cusance suffered the reprisals of Louis XI after the Battle of Nancy (1477): the castle was burned in 1480 and confiscated for six years. Thibaut de Cusance restored it at the end of the 15th century, while Claude-François de Cusance, colonel in the service of Spain, built it in the 17th century for his wife, Ernestine de Withem.

The couple's daughter, Beatrix de Cusance, known for her beauty, successively married the prince of Cantecroix and Charles de Vaudémont, Duke of Lorraine. The castle, abandoned after 1650, passed to Lorraine and then to Rohan. Marie-Louise de Rohan-Soubise, the governess of the children of Louis XV, was the last Baroness. Seized in the Revolution as a demigrated property, it was partially destroyed in the 19th century (West wing, towers) before being restored by the painter Pierre Jouffroy from 1955.

The architecture combines defensive elements (fossed, drawbridge, dungeon) and residential elements (honour room, chapel, seigneurial rooms). The eastern wing, ravaged by a fire in 1968, was rebuilt in ten years. The castle now houses collections of furniture, paintings (including a portrait of Beatrix by Van Dyck), and ancient weapons. Ranked a historic monument in 1956, its 46-hectare estate has been protected since 1992.

The fortified village, once girded with walls, was organized around the castle. The 16th century doorway, with traces of drawbridge, gives access to a body of rectangular houses including the chapel and vaulted rooms formerly dedicated to the storage of wine. The Madge-Fâ tower (late 15th century), with a lantern supported by grotesque sculptures, would symbolize revenge against Louis XI. The dungeon, several times redesigned, dominates the rocky spur.

Transformed into a seminary in the 19th century, then into a Catholic school, the castle was abandoned at the Archdiocese of Besançon in 1848. Divided and sold to farmers, he was saved by Pierre Jouffroy, who undertook a restoration of nearly fifty years. Open to the public from Easter to Toussaint, it offers guided tours highlighting its military history, its interior decorations and its links with the major European families.

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