Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Chassy Castle, located on the same name town in Saône-et-Loire, finds its origins in a strong house attested as early as 1056. Perched on a valley where the creek of Clessy is born, today it preserves an architecture mostly dated from the 15th century, marked by two round towers, a square tower and a hexagonal tower. These elements are structured around a robust housing body, accompanied by an old dependency and an imposing circular dovecote. The ensemble, private property not open to the public, illustrates the evolution of a medieval defensive site in seigneurial residence.

The history of the castle is linked to several noble families, including the Du Bois, the Chassy, and the rimes, the latter explicitly mentioning a "house of Chaci" in 1404. At the beginning of the 16th century, Claude Choux and his wife Jeanne Brichard built a seigneurial chapel. The estate then passed through alliances and successive sales to the Bernault, La Guiche, and then to the Beaudoin de Digoin, before being acquired in the 18th century by the Marquis Duprat-Barbançon, grandson of the Marshal de Fay, founder of the Forges de Gueugnon. These transmissions reflect the matrimonial and economic strategies of local elites, between Charolais and Burgundy.

Ranked in the Additional Inventory of Historic Monuments since 1927, the castle saw its protection extended in 2012, then the castral ensemble was classified in 2022. These recognitions highlight the heritage value of a building whose construction campaigns between the late 14th and early 16th centuries combine defensive and residential functions. The interior elements, such as fireplaces or accolade doors, as well as armored ravens, bear witness to the prestige of its former owners, while its dovecote recalls its role in the medieval seigneurial organization.

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