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Origin and history

The Château de Marcilly-la-Gueurce is an ancient strong house deeply transformed over the centuries, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Built on a platform overlooking the valley, it overlooks a tributary of Conche Creek. Its origin dates back to at least the 12th century, when it was held by a family named Marcilly. At that time, it was a strong house called the Etang, owned by Jean de Marcilly in 1303, lord of Chevenizet.

In the 15th century, the estate passed by alliance to the Damascus families, then Martel, before being passed on to the Priezac, the Court and Dagonneau. In the 16th century, the moth of Marcilly was acquired by Florent de Martel, a Dolphinian gentleman, and then by Jean-Gaspard de Bionnay. Around 1650, Étienne Dagonneau became its owner. In 1764, after the dilapidation of the Dagonneau's fortune, the castle was sold to Jean d'Aoustène, payer of the Lyon currency court. At the end of the 18th century, he entered the Voireet family by marriage, before being passed on to the Sarton du Jonchay, current owners.

The castle underwent major architectural changes: the dungeon was demolished in 1825, and the house body, built in the 16th century at the site of an old paved courtyard, was redesigned in the 19th century. The site includes a rectangular pavilion flanked by a deconstructed circular tower, as well as an oriental house body preceded by a stone balcony resting on arcades. Two towers, one circular with a conical roof and the other square truncated (former circular tower transformed), frame the whole. The castle and its terraces in the East have been listed as historical monuments since 22 March 1993.

The history of the castle reflects the successive alliances and transmissions between noble families, typical of the ancient feudal society and then post-revolutionary. Its architecture combines medieval defensive elements, such as the taluté tower, with Renaissance additions, illustrating the evolution of the residential and symbolic needs of local lords. The presence of a spiral staircase in the square tower also reflects the interior arrangements characteristic of the aristocratic homes of the modern era.

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