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Origin and history

The Château de la Forgeotte is a modern building located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, in the Côte d'Or, in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. It is located on the edge of the state forest of Izeure, northeast of the village and near the Abbey of Cîteaux, on a plot crossed by the Canal of the Cent-Fonts. This canal, dug from the thirteenth century to supply the abbey with water, was expanded and diverted to form the moat surrounding the castle platform on three sides. The site, which once housed a water mill, could owe its name to an old lost forge, associated with a monastic barn mentioned in 1674 under the name farm of the Forgeotte.

The building of the castle dates from the late 18th century to the last quarter of the 19th century, well after the founding of the village of Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux in 1608. The latter was created by Nicolas II Boucherat, Abbé de Cîteaux, to welcome 23 families from Lorraine, Alsace and the Ardennes, who were responsible for cultivating the land close to the abbey. The castle, in modern style, is integrated into an architectural complex comprising a L-shaped main residence, U-shaped buildings arranged around a courtyard, and a mill. The materials used, such as stone bellows and bricks, as well as roofs covered with slate or flat tiles, reflect the construction techniques of the era.

The architecture of the castle is distinguished by elements such as a polygonal brick turret surmounted by an arrow, stone balconies, and an entrance door framed with cut stone with a slit pediment. The operating buildings, organized around the courtyard, feature segment arched bays and brick and stone corner chains. Today, the castle park is home to a deer farm, adding a contemporary dimension to this historical heritage linked to the monastic and agricultural activity of the region.

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