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Origin and history

The château de Chambonas, located in the commune ardéchoise of the same name, is a strong house built in the 15th century, then remodeled in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. It commands the strategic passage of Chassezac, protected by a Romanesque bridge below. Originally, an 11th century tower, probably the present North Tower, was integrated into later constructions. The site was an ecclesiastical fief ceded by the bishop of Uzes to the abbot of Saint-Gilles, who installed there a knight of La Garde-Guérin as the first lord to supervise the ford.

In the 16th century, during the Wars of Religion, the castle was strengthened by towers and mâchicoulis to make it a strong place, giving it its present appearance. The terraces and gardens, traditionally attributed to Le Nôtre (or his pupils), were later developed with fountains fed by remote sources. The 18th century saw major interior decorations, while the castle served as garrison between 1792 and 1808.

In 1808 the Marquis de Chanaleilles acquired the domain of the hands of Aloph de La Garde de Chambonas, son of a minister of Louis XVI ruined by debts. The Chanaleilles restored the castle for forty years, adding a wing and a bow without altering its defensive character. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1963 (facades, roofs, park, stairs and lounges), he remained in this family until the 1970s before being sold after new restorations.

Architecturally, the castle is distinguished by a quadrilateral with five terraces, lined with pepper towers with varnished roofs. Its interior preserves salons with Italian decorations, while the French-style gardens reflect the influence of the disciples of Le Nôtre. The estate thus illustrates the evolution of a medieval fortress in aristocratic residence, marked by religious conflicts and fascists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

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