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Origin and history

The castle of Roanne, located in the municipality of the same name in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, is an ancient castle whose history dates back to at least the thirteenth century. Built by Bérard de Roanne, local lord, it was a strategic issue in the Middle Ages, successively controlled by the Counts of Forez, the Gouffier, and then the Aubusson. Its dungeon, the only part still standing, bears witness to its military and seigneurial importance.

Over the centuries, the castle changed hands several times, often through sales, weddings or donations. In 1294 Jean de Dreux sold it to the Count of Forez for 1,400 books tournaments. In the 16th century, Claude Gouffier, great squire of France, obtained his erection in Duchy of Roannais by Charles IX (1564-1567). The castle then became a court and a departmental prison from 1674 to 1810, before being transformed into a private residence by the knight of Saint Thomas in the 19th century.

The knight Jean-Étienne de Saint-Thomas, inspector of the Historical Monuments, acquired the ruins in 1845 and restored them in a neoclassical style, adding a Renaissance facade and a coat of arms room decorated with a hundred coat of arms. Ranked a historic monument in 1930, the dungeon now houses the tourist office. Its 15th century watch, its granite walls of Villerest and its lost ditches recall its stronghold past.

Architecturally, the 20-metre square dungeon, with rounded corners, dominates the city. It was once surrounded by moat fed by the Oudan, connected to the Loire. The golden gate, vestige of fortifications, led to the new town. After restorations in 2009, the site is visited in summer, offering a panorama of the feudal, judicial and heritage history of Roanne.

The collections of the knight of Saint Thomas, who disappeared today, made the castle a local "curiosity" in the 19th century. The yearbooks of the time describe "objects of antiquity so numerous" that it took "many days" to admire them. The coat of arms room, with its vaulted painted ceiling, remains a unique testimony of its monarchist eclecticism.

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