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Origin and history

The dungeon of Salives is a medieval vestige located in the village of Salives, Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Built on the hillside, it is about 50 metres west of the local church. Its ruins, still imposing with a high tower of 16.80 meters, reveal a defensive architecture marked by walls of three meters thick at the base. The interior preserves traces of a basement floor, a ground floor and three upper floors, the last of which features a door, a Romanesque window and latrines integrated into the wall.

The history of the dungeon is linked to seigneurial exchanges and conflicts. As early as 768, one named Maurin offered the village of Salives to the Abbey of Flavigny. In 1256, Hugues IV traded Salives with Guillaume de Mary against Villeberny. In the 15th century, John IV temporarily ceded the village to the Sire de Châteauvillain before recovering it in 1420. The castle suffered damage during the wars of religion: in 1590, two rebels commanding the castle were hanged by Guy de Tavannes. In 1774, Abbé Court Sword described a partially demolished tower, 50 feet high, vestige of the ancient castle of the Dukes.

The ruins of the dungeon, classified as historical monuments since 9 June 1932, underwent restorations in 1985 which caused the collapse of the north face and the northeast corner. Today, the dungeon belongs to the municipality of Salives and remains an architectural testimony of feudal conflicts and exchanges in Burgundy. The structure preserves characteristic elements of medieval dungeons, such as defensive openings and interior arrangements adapted to seigneurial life.

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