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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château d'Époisses, located in the village of the same name in the Côte d'Or, finds its origins in the Middle Ages, with traces evoking a site before the 6th century. According to tradition, Queen Brunehaut stayed there with her grandson Thierry, king of Burgundy. It became a seigneurial house in the 12th century and passed into the hands of the families of Montbard and the Mello (1237-1421), making it a strategic fief. Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, stayed there in 1377. In the 15th century, Louis XI offered the seigneury to his nephew, the Marshal of Baden-Hochberg, whose daughter Jeanne, Countess of Neuchâtel, married Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville, making architectural changes.

In the 16th century, the castle was sold by Jacques de Savoie, Duke of Nemours, to Marshal Imbert de La Platier, who built the porch of the tower bearing his name. After looting by the League (1591-1595), Louis d'Ancienville obtained in 1613 the erection of the domain in marquisat. In the 17th century, Guillaume de Guitaut, close to the Grand Condé, transformed the fortress into an elegant residence, receiving figures like the Marquise de Sévigné. The French Revolution led to the partial demolition of the fortifications, but the Guitaut family restored the castle in the 19th century, preserving its church, dovecote, and moats classified as a historical monument in 1992.

The castle, initially surrounded by a double fortified enclosure, sees its village grow between its walls. Four medieval towers, including the Brunehaut tower (XIIIth century) and the Bourdillon tower (restated in 1560), dominate the whole. The park, registered since 1946, houses a parish church adorned with a moralistic fresco (The Dit of the Three Dead and the Three Living), as well as a 17th century dovecote with 3,000 bolts. Today still owned by the family of Pechpeyrou-Cominges of Guitaut, the castle is visited, testifying to ten centuries of Burgundy history, between seigneurial power and community life.

Architecturally, the castle illustrates the evolutions of the 13th to the 19th century: medieval donjon rare in Burgundy, Renaissance wings, classical balustrades, and post-revolutionary developments. The outbuildings, the church, and the two fortified enclosures (with bridges and moats) have been protected since 1992. The site, open to the public, also maintains a private school in its park, mixing heritage and local life. Family chronicles and archives, such as those of Marguerite de Guitaut (Beasts, Chronicles of a Castle), document her central role in regional history.

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