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Origin and history

The castle of Chissey-en-Morvan, located in Saône-et-Loire on the edge of the Ternin, finds its origins in the 12th century with a three-storey tower, later integrated into a larger structure at the end of the 13th century. In the 15th century, it consists of a house body with vaulted cellar, basement and gallery, surrounded by four corner towers, a deep ditch and mâchicoulis. The northeast tower, the oldest, and a square tower renovated in the eighteenth century still remain today. The chapel, founded in 1668 by Chrétien de Montmoyen, housed daily masses accessible to the lord via a counter from his fireplace.

In the 14th century, the castle was the object of conflicts of suzerainety. In 1369 Bishop Geoffroi David took over symbolically, before the Duke of Burgundy Philip the Hardi attempted the same manoeuvre in 1385, without success. Over the centuries, he passed into the hands of noble families such as Châtillon-en-Bazois, Roussillon, Chaulgy and Montmoyen. Odinet de Montmoyen, governor of Autun in the 16th century, imposed watch and guard on the inhabitants, while Chrétien de Chissey, in the 17th century, founded a chapel and acquired neighbouring lands.

Sold as a national property in 1793 during the Revolution, the castle became a farm in the 19th century. Napoleon made his stop there in 1815 when he returned from the island of Elbe, before it was partially restored, as the structure of the large square tower in 1868. Joined historic monuments in 1997, he is visiting today from July to September, as well as at Heritage Days. Its architecture combines medieval elements (round towers, filled ditches) and 18th-century developments.

The lords of the castle, such as Hugues de Châtillon-en-Bazois in the 13th century or Michaut de Chaulgy in the 15th century, mark its history with their alliances and conflicts with the ecclesiastical and Ducal powers. The coat of arms of the Ternant families (three crenelated towers) and Chaulgy (departed from Chaulgy and Roussillon) bear witness to their heritage. The site, once surrounded by a pond and a mill, illustrates the evolution of a medieval fortress into a seigneurial residence, before its agricultural conversion.

The castle preserves traces of its defensive past, such as tower murderers and the remains of the drawbridge, although the southwest tower has disappeared. The inner courtyard, lined with commons (kitchen, barn, stables), reflects the typical spatial organization of Burgundian castles. The ditches, fed by the river, and the surrounding slope made it a difficult place to take, strategically located between Autun and Morvan.

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