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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Boutavent, located in Cortambert in Saône-et-Loire, is mentioned for the first time in 1237 under the name Bonteavant in an act of sale by Jocerand III from Brancion to Cluny Abbey. Originally built in the 12th century by the Gros de Brancion to defend their land against Cluny, it passes under Clunisian control after this exchange. Father Yves II erected new buildings at the end of the 13th century. The site, strategic on a rocky spur overlooking the Grosne valley, underwent several military captures, notably in 1470 by the troops of Louis XI, then an occupation by Claude Du Blé on behalf of Charles le Témeraire (1471–1476).

In the 18th century, the castle lost its defensive vocation to become an agricultural estate, with landscape developments and the transformation of the communes into stables. In 1790, sold as a national asset after the Revolution, he escaped the looting of 1789. In the 19th century, the Earl of Audiffred acquired it in 1867 and modernized it in resort residence, adding a park and outbuildings perhaps designed by architect François Marie Dulac. The present quadrilateral, flanked by a round tower and a neo-Gothic chapel, preserves traces of these epochs.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2015, the Château de Boutavent includes a rectangular house body, a circular turret, and terraces built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Private property, it does not visit, but its architecture reflects the transitions between medieval fortress, agricultural exploitation, and remains aristocratic. Cassini's maps and clunisian archives confirm his historical spelling, Boutavent, linked to his ventilated position on a hill.

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