Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Châteauneuf, also called castrum novum, was erected in the second half of the 12th century by John, younger son of the lord of Chaudenay, who settled there around 1175 and adopted the name Châteauneuf. This first building, of which only the dungeon remains, marks the beginning of a strategic fortress built at the end of a rocky spur, protected by ditches carved in the rock and a enclosure flanked by five round towers. The access was originally by two drawbridges, one with arrows to the northeast and the other to the southeast.

In the middle of the 14th century, the castle adopted its current defensive plan, characterized by an elongated enclosure, high courtlines, and towers adapted to new military techniques. The facilities include shooting windows under the dungeon cornice, crows supporting a round road, and a square tower bearing traces of an archaic pendulum drawbridge. The iron-to-horse towers on the southeast flank, with cannon guns and vaulted bases, illustrate this defensive evolution.

The second half of the 15th century marked a major transformation under the impetus of Philippe Pot, adviser to the Duke of Burgundy Philippe le Bon. After the confiscation of the castle in 1456, following the execution of Catherine de Châteauneuf for the murder of her husband, Philippe Pot launched an ambitious construction campaign: the building of the chapel Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Jean (consecrated in 1481), the large house backed by courtine, and a second house called Philippe Pot. This work is accompanied by a redesign of the facades and the opening of a new door with a drawbridge in the south-east court.

The following centuries saw more modest interior developments, such as those undertaken by the family of Vienna, which changed the facade of the house and reorganized the apartments. In the 18th century, classical changes partially altered the medieval structure. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1894, the castle was given to the state in 1936 by Georges de Vogüé, then transferred to the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region in 2007. Restoration campaigns, especially in the 20th century, kept its emblematic elements, such as the chapel murals or the monumental fireplaces of the house.

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