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Origin and history

The Château de Frontenay is a private fortress built in the 12th century in the eponymous village of Jura, Burgundy-Franche-Comté. First testimony written in 1109, he was then bound to the Counts of Burgundy by his lords. This archaeological site, perfectly preserved, combines a 14th century massive dungeon – built by Jean de Chalon to secure the salt road to Salins – with medieval remains and 18th and 19th century developments. Its ditch, filled in the 18th century, gave way to commons, while a building body bears the date of 1773.

In 1446 Louis II de Chalon-Arlay entrusted the castle to Gauthier de Fallerans, a squire whose descendants (Fallerans family, then Visemal, Montrichard, Chamberet and Sury d'Aspremont) have managed it for 600 years, a record of family continuity. The monument was taken by the French armies in 1637 during the Ten Years War. Open to the public since the 1990s, it has been listed as a Historic Monument since November 8, 1991, including its basement and archaeological remains.

Today, the castle combines summer tourism (guided tours, Jazz Festival in Frontenay since 2007) and event activities all year round (seminars, weddings). Its architecture thus combines military history – with a dungeon flanked by towers – and subsequent residential adaptations, as evidenced by the partial collapse of a building in 1946. The site remains a symbol of the Jurassian nobility and its territorial anchor.

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