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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de la Fontaine, located in Anse in the Rhône department, is an iconic Renaissance monument built between the 15th and 17th centuries. It consists of two bodies of square houses, flanked by four peppers, and features remarkable architectural elements such as columned galleries and door windows. Ranked as historical monuments since 1912, it embodies the seigneurial heritage of the region, with a facade oriented towards the Saône and commons dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The fief de la Fontaine belonged to several influential families, including the Covet, the Bessié and the Bottu de la Barmondière. In the 17th century, Laurent Bessié, then his daughter Elizabeth (wife of Alexander Bottu), owned it. Their descendant, Louis François Bottu, handed the castle to his daughter Thérèse, a canoness, who in 1842 bequeathed him to the archepiscopal mense of Lyon. The estate, now privately owned, inspired artists like Utrillo, who immortalized in 1931.

The coat of arms of the Bessie families (azure to the band of starred silver) and Bottu (azure to the lion d'or) recall their prestige. The castle, although not open to the public, preserves a monumental stone door and roofs in scale tiles, testimonies of its aristocratic past. His history is documented in books such as Histoire du Beaujolais (1853) and the archives of the Société des sciences du Beaujolais.

Ranked for its 16th and 17th century buildings, the castle illustrates the architectural and social evolution of the local nobility. Its strategic location, between National 6 and the Saône, reflects its historical importance in the Beaujolais landscape. The sources, including Wikipedia and Monumentum, highlight its heritage value, despite a GPS location deemed poor (level 5/10).

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