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Origin and history

The castle of Chareil-Cintrat is a former strong house built at the end of the Middle Ages on the territory of the commune of Chareil-Cintrat, in the department of Allier. Originally, this fief belonged to Bourbon's house before passing, by inheritance in the 16th century, to Claude Morin, controller of the wars during the Italian countryside. The latter, inspired by the art of the Italian Renaissance, undertook important works: construction of a new building against the medieval enclosure and realization of mythological and astrological painted decorations.

In 1589, the castle was besieged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century it became the property of the Langlois de Ramentière family, one of which was the first mayor of Chareil. After several changes of hands, including an acquisition by Schneider steelworks during the First World War, the French state purchased the estate in 1954. Since then, the castle, classified as a historical monument in 1958, is managed by the National Monuments Centre and houses a conservatory of ancient grape varieties.

The architecture of the castle reflects a superposition of the ancient orders (doric, ionic, Corinthian), in accordance with the treaties of the Italian Renaissance, especially those of Sebastiano Serlio. The interior decorations, characteristic of the second French Renaissance, combine ancient mythology, astrological motifs and maneristic influences. The murals depict Roman deities, signs of the zodiac and grotesques, while the chimneys and door frames are richly decorated.

The castle is located at the foot of a former wine-growing hill, in the valley of the Bouble, near the village of Chareil. Since 1995, a wine conservatory in the country of Saint-Pourçain, including abandoned varieties, has been set up at its feet. The grapes from these vines give rise to a special cuvée, "the cuvée of the conservatory", gathering old white vines.

Today, the castle is open to the public from June to September, offering guided tours. Although not accessible to wheelchairs, there remains a remarkable testimony of the architectural evolution between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, marked by Italian influences and transformations related to local history.

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