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Origin and history

The castle of Vaire-le-Grand, located in the Doubs valley in Vaire-Arcier (formerly Vaire), finds its origins on a site occupied from the Gallo-Roman period by a castrum overlooking the valley. In the 11th century, a castle was built there by Gauthier de Vaire, vassal of Bourgogne County. This castle, destroyed in 1477 by order of Louis XI after the death of Charles the Temerary, fell in ruins before being bought in 1703 by Gabriel Boisot, Attorney General of the Besançon Parliament and key figure in the annexation of the Franche-Comté by Louis XIV.

The present castle, in classic style, was erected between 1713 and 1717 by Jean-Antoine Boisot, son of Gabriel, who inspired Parisian residences such as Champs-sur-Marne. Funded by his wife's dowry, Marie Élisabeth Yacinthe Heuslin, the project includes the first French garden of Franche-Comté, designed according to the principles of Dézallier d'Argenville. However, excessive spending and marital tensions (the spouses separated in 1723) led Jean-Antoine to sell the estate while keeping usufruct.

In the 18th century, the castle passed to the Purcheresse sisters of Etrabonne, Simone Bonaventure Étiennette, wife of the Marquis de Verseille, lived there. In 1814, during the French Campaign, Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein established his headquarters there and had the terraces built in defensive positions to confront Napoleonic troops. The estate, sold in 1819 to local families (Cugnotet, Finot), changed hands several times in the 19th and 20th centuries, even becoming a holiday colony after 1948 under the management of Boussac.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2011-2012 after a first inscription in 1985, the castle and its gardens (terraces, basins, cut yews) were restored in the 1990s. Since 1992, it has been open to the public, offering an architectural testimony of French classicism and the turbulent history of Franche-Comté, between nobility of dress, military conflicts and heritage conversions.

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