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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of the Bosquet, located in Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche in the south of the Ardèche, was originally built as a bastide in 1520 at the initiative of Claude de Tournon, bishop of Viviers. This monument illustrates the architectural transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with a quadrilateral structure flanked by round towers and a pentagonal tower with an original helical staircase. The building, conceived as a civil residence, reflects the influence of Italian art at the beginning of the French Renaissance.

In the 17th century, Antoine du Roure, Baron d'Aiguèze, transformed the fortified house into a Renaissance-style residence, marking its importance in Rhodanian architecture. The castle, which served as a summer residence for the bishops of Viviers, was fragmented during the Revolution when the goods of the emigrants were sold. Used as a farm until the 1960s and 1970s, it was listed as a historic monument in 2003 for its exceptional heritage value.

The building, with an area of 1,600 m2, is organized around an inner courtyard and comprises twenty main rooms spread over nine hectares. Its architecture, combining defensive elements and Renaissance aesthetics, bears witness to the evolution of aristocratic lifestyles in the sixteenth century. The pentagonal tower, with its helical nucleus staircase, and the western wing housing the main house, are remarkable examples of the adaptation of medieval forms to Renaissance cannons.

The castle of the Bosquet is now a private property, classified entirely (parcelles B 404 to B 407) by order of 2 September 2003. Its history reflects the political and social upheavals of the region, from its episcopal role to its conversion into a farm, before being recognized as a major architectural heritage of the Rhône Valley.

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