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Origin and history

The castle of Trévoux, built at the end of the 13th or at the beginning of the 14th century by the Sires of Thoire-Villars, was rebuilt around 1360 before being abandoned in 1563. Symbol of the seigneury of Trévoux and center of a chestnutry of the principality of Dombes, it protected a river toll on the Saône. Its octagonal dungeon, built in alternating white and gilded stones, bears witness to a robust medieval military architecture, while its courtines and lateral towers date from the expansion campaign of 1360.

The castle experienced violent episodes, such as the attack by François de la Palud in 1431, where the resistance of the castle contrasted with the plundering of the city. In 1402, Humbert VIII de Thoire-Villars sold it to Louis II de Bourbon, marking his integration into the Dombes. In the 16th century he was the target of Protestants (1563), who undermined his tower, accelerating its decline. Abandoned after 1563, it was partially destroyed during the Revolution (1793), before being classified as a Historic Monument in 1913 and restored from the 1990s.

The site also kept a monetary workshop, established around 1410 by Jean de Bourbon, first in the castle and then in the city. The current remains – truncated dungeon, horse and round iron towers, walls of enclosure – reveal a triangular plan adapted to topography. Despite the damage suffered (abandonment, Revolution, erosion), the castle remains an exceptional witness of late-medieval castral architecture, linked to the history of the families of Thoire-Villars and Bourbon.

Ranked in 1913, the castle successively belonged to local lords, to the crown of France, then to the department of Ain (since 1822). Its ruins, designed in the 19th century by Horace Fonville, were the subject of consolidation campaigns (1932, 1957, 1993). Today, the octagonal dungeon – reduced from 28 to 16 meters – and the courtines offer an overview of its past power, while historical animations, such as those of 2013 for the 450th anniversary of its capture, perpetuate its memory.

The castle was connected to the city by a wall of enclosure, and its ditches, still visible, underline its defensive role. Inside, the traces of a fireplace and a tower (latrines) evoke seigneurial life. The square courtyard is attested by a plan of 1813. Although partially in ruins as early as the seventeenth century, the site retains a major heritage value, illustrating the transitions between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in the Lyon region.

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