Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Meilly-sur-Rouvres finds its origins in a ducal stronghold attested in 1332. Sold in 1340 by Hugues IV to Guillaume Gallois de La Baume, it was transformed into a fortress before undergoing degradation in the 15th century. The site passed into the hands of Claude de Gellant in 1451, then of Jean de La Palu in 1584, marking its evolution towards a castle rebuilt in the seventeenth century.

In the 18th century, the estate was bought in 1734 by Jean Charles Coste de Champeroux, king's adviser. Garnier noted in 1869 that the castle was then destroyed. The remains were rebuilt in the late 19th century, and the northwest end of the house was demolished around 1930. Today, there remains only a medieval circular tower base integrated with the moat, while the current buildings combine elements from the seventeenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Architecturally, the main house includes a vaulted basement floor, a raised ground floor and a square floor, served by two stone stairs. In the east, a stone-cut passageway overlooks a gate, while in the south, an isolated building houses stables, probably dating back to the early 19th century with 17th century re-uses. The communes, organised in U around a lower yard, include a covered passage with a doorway in a handle-of-panier, flanked by two two-storey pavilions.

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