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Origin and history

The castle of Anizy finds its origins in a strong house of the 12th century, built to control the passage at ford of the Aron and collect tolls. Archaeological excavations in 1991 revealed traces of Gallo-Roman and medieval occupation, including burials of the 8th and 9th centuries and vestiges of the 13th century. The site, inhabited without interruption, bears witness to an ancient and strategic occupation on the banks of the river.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Charles and Hector du Frasnay transformed the strong house into a Renaissance mansion, reusing the stones of an old tower to erect a new structure "round by the outside and square by the inside". In 1571 Charles de Frasnay had this tower rebuilt, while in 1621 Hector de Frasnay added a pavilion with monumental chimneys. The fief, initially moving baronnie of the Dukes of Nevers, passed into the hands of the families of Anisy, La Tournelle, Chandou, then Frasnay from 1450.

The castle, surrounded by ditches and accessible by drawbridges (now disappeared), also housed a parish church with a rectangular nave, spared during the Revolution after its conversion into a barn. The walls were demolished, the moat filled, and the estate became an agricultural property. A steep round tower, connected to the house by a courtine, remains as a vestige of the medieval enclosure. The building, classified as a Historic Monument in 1980 for its facades, roofs and spiral staircases, remains a private property not open to the public.

In 1666, the castle was reunited at the land of Vandenesse by Louis du Bois de Fienne, after having been seized on Marie Edmée de Frasnay, wife of Joachim de Villers-la-Faye. Admitted in 1673 to the Marquis de Givry, lieutenant general of the King's armies, he illustrated the seigneurial mutations of the Ancien Régime. The defensive elements (openings for sinkings, assumption) recall its military role, while the monumental chimneys, one of which was transferred to the castle of Vandenesse, underline its evolution towards an aristocratic place of residence.

The site, located south of the village of Limanton, on the left bank of the Nivernais Canal, retains traces of its medieval and Renaissance past. The ancient descriptions evoke a motte surrounded by walls, with a common low courtyard, barns and two dovecotes. Despite the transformations (demolition of the ramparts, suppression of the drawbridges), the castle remains a characteristic example of the Nivernaise seigneurial architecture, mixing defensive heritage and residential adaptations.

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