Château de la Motte en Côte-d'or

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Origin and history

The Château de la Motte, located in Quetigny in the Côte d'Or (Burgogne-Franche-Comté), is a modern building whose origins date back to at least the thirteenth century. Although its present form dates mainly from the 17th and 19th centuries, its first historical records link the site to land transactions involving the Quetigny family and the Saint-Étienne Abbey. These exchanges, documented between 1275 and 1309, reveal an ancient occupation, although no fortress was attested until the 17th century.

In 1686, the castle was described as a square building with two towers on the east façade, then rebuilt in 1718 in a rectangular form, surrounded by ditches including gardens and orchards. This castle, visible on the cadastre of 1811, underwent a new reconstruction in the nineteenth century, adopting its present appearance: a central body flanked by avant-corps and covered with polychrome tiles. The attic, illuminated by three skylights, and the recent French garden complete its architecture.

The history of the castle reflects the successive transformations of an agricultural and seigneurial domain. The archives mention his absence from military office in 1469, confirming his residential or economic role. The ditches and landscape developments, typical of the bourgeois or aristocratic houses of the 17th to 19th centuries, underline its evolution towards a prestigious place, marked by reconstructions adapted to the tastes of each era.

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