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Origin and history

Montrognon Castle, also called Mont-Ronhous in Auvergnat, is a 12th century building today in ruins, perched on a volcanic puy culminating at 699 m above sea level. Located in the commune of Ceyrat (Puy-de-Dôme), it was once surrounded by a medieval village, now extinct. Its Latinized name, Mons Rugosus, evokes its steep relief, and its top, wooded with softwood, was still naked at the beginning of the 20th century.

The castle was built by Robert I of Montrognon in the last years of the twelfth century, becoming the center of the seigneury of the family Montrognon of Salvert, vassal of the dolphins of Auvergne. In the 13th and 14th centuries, a village had developed at its feet, but it disappeared after the crises of the second half of the 14th century (pests, looting by large companies). The castle, for its part, was dismantled in 1633 by order of Richelieu, as part of its policy against the rebel nobility.

The ruins then suffered natural collapses: a tower collapsed in 1828, and a section of a wall and part of the dungeon were shot down by the wind in February 1840. The site then served as a stone quarry for the inhabitants of Ceyrat. A tragedy also marked its history: in 1884, two treasure seekers, Auguste Vignon and Joseph Gouny (known as Naca), were buried under the rubble. Naca survived seven days under the rubble, while his companion died instantly.

Architecturally, the castle had a trapeze-shaped enclosure, flanked by semicircular turrets and accessible by a drawbridge to the west. The inner courtyard housed a cistern, and the circular dungeon, three-storey vaulted, was surmounted by a watch. Today, the site, partially preserved by the Auvergne Conservatory of Natural Areas, houses Mediterranean dry lawns and orchids, integrated into the Natura 2000 network.

The seigneury of Montrognon was linked to the family of Opme, itself vassal of the dolphins of Auvergne, in the nearby chestnut of Chamalières. The castle thus illustrates the local feudal dynamics before its decline, accelerated by the 17th century political conflicts and dismantlings.

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