Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Montlys Castle, also called Montlis, is located in Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône, south of the Rhône department, on a hillside overlooking the right bank of the river. Its architecture is characterized by a central house body framed by two pavilions, forming a 'U' set connected by slate roof staircase towers. The facades, facing the Rhone, have a ground floor, a floor and attic, while sled windows illuminate an interior courtyard on a terrace. Each pavilion is extended by a round tower outside and a skewer inside, all with roofs in tiles or slate. Access is via a south driveway or a north courtyard bordered by communes.

The Bolot family, represented by Henri (1811–?), a glass industrialist, and his wife Olympe de Vaugelas (1822–?), gave birth to Octavia (1845–1940). In 1868 she married Henri Thomas de Saint-Laurent (1841–1908), a polytechnician and bridge and carriageway engineer, with whom she had seven children. Their son Joseph (1875–1940) died without descendants, marking the end of this line linked to the castle. Today, the estate is dedicated to viticulture, although the castle is not visited.

Historical sources mention the castle in works such as the Dictionnaire des communes de F.-A. Varnet (1897) or studies on the wines of the Rhône. Its architecture and family history reflect the influence of 19th-century industrial and technical elites in the Lyon region, where viticulture has played a major economic role for centuries.

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