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Origin and history

The castle of Blaisy-Haut is an ancient medieval fortress built on a rocky spur in Blaisy-Haut, in Côte-d'Or (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). Mentioned as early as 942 in a charter of Count Gislebert, his primitive castle dates from the 11th century. It overlooks the village of Blaisy-Bas and the 16g departmental road, offering a strategic position naturally defended by cliffs and artificial ditches.

From the Middle Ages, the castle changed hands several times by inheritance or marriage. In 1328, Alexandre de Blaisy held him in fief of the Duke of Burgundy. In the 15th century, Jean de Blaisy inherited it (1425), then Claude II de Blaisy rebuilt it between 1470 and 1486 before he passed to the Rochechouard family in 1508. During the Wars of Religion (late 16th century), the fortress was partially destroyed after being disputed between royal troops, the Duke of Nemours (1592) and the leaguers of Baron de Viteaux (1593).

In the 17th century, the castle was restored and the Barony became a marquisate in 1695 for Antoine Joly de Blaisy, president of the Grand Council. A fire ravages it in 1751, requiring reconstruction undertaken in 1772. In 1794 it was still described as a citadel surrounded by crenellated walls, ditches and towers, but its ruins became picturesque in the 19th century. Its architecture includes two successive courtyards, round towers, cannons and the remains of a Gothic chapel.

The south courtyard, preceded by a two-storey building and a peg tower dated 1679, is flanked by round towers and a semicircular turret. The north courtyard, built on the remains of the primitive castle, preserves traces of square towers and filled ditches between 1762 and 1829. The ditches in front of the missing drawbridges are evidence of its defensive past.

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