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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Chassagnes Castle, located in the commune of Vans en Ardèche, is an emblematic building of the seigneurial heritage of the region. It occupies a strategic position on the hamlet of Chassagnes, on the edge of the Païolive wood, facing the Saint-Eugène hermitage. This modest but elegant castle reflects the architectural characteristics of the little Victorian aristocracy, with influences marked by successive transformations.

Originally, a dungeon belonged to the Prolhans family until the end of the 14th century. In the middle of the 16th century, the lords of Montjeu replaced it with a more spacious castle, marking a change of seigneurial residence. The seventeenth century saw the addition of turrets made of pepper, covered with varnished tiles, under the impulse of the Iznard family of Villefort, then of the Chanaleilles, who put their weapons there above the entrance door.

The architecture of the castle still evolves in the 19th and 20th centuries: interior partitioning, piercing of bays, and layout of a gardenet in 1938 on a terrace preserving the remains of an old hydraulic system. The castle, as well as the facades and roofs of the castle and its communes, have been protected since 2007 as historical monuments.

Today, the castle of Chassagnes, a private property, bears witness to the architectural and social transformations of the local aristocracy, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. Its location near the Chassezac River and its integration into the southern Ardèche landscape make it a historical and picturesque site.

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