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Origin and history

The Château de Francheville, founded at the end of the 12th century by the archbishop of Lyon Renaud de Forez between 1175 and 1200, was a strategic building overlooking the Yzeron valley. Located west of Lyon, on a rock offering a privileged military position, it controlled ancient Roman roads and a mandation extending as far as Oullins and Saint-Genis-Laval. The fief was administered by a chestnut appointed by the archbishops, reflecting its importance in local governance.

Over the centuries, the castle gradually deteriorated. As early as 1514, a judicial report described its deplorable state: the absence of a drawbridge, walls and roofs in ruins, a chapel transformed into a hay attic, and an unmaintained tank. Despite these degradations, the site escaped a planned destruction in 1884 due to inaction by the authorities. Beginning in 1990, work was undertaken to consolidate the rock base to preserve the remains.

Architecturally, the castle presented itself as a polygonal enclosure with thick walls (up to 2 meters), built of granite bellows. Today there is only a partially ruined dungeon, fragments of the east, south and north walls, and an open tower at the gorge. A window and a brick niche recall its medieval past. The ruins, inscribed in historical monuments in 1982, offer a rare testimony of the 12th century Lyon fortifications.

The site was also a place of ecclesiastical power, linked to the archdiocese of Lyon. Guillaume de Quincampoix, named chestnut in 1476 by Charles de Bourbon, illustrates his role in the feudal tensions of the region. The position of the castle, at the crossroads of historical roads, made it a key point for territorial and commercial control between Lyon and the surrounding lands.

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