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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The château of Chorey-les-Beaune, located in the eponymous commune of Burgundy-Franche-Comté (Côte-d-Or), finds its origins in the Middle Ages. From 1348, Jean de Frôlois, lord of Molinot, held in fief the strong house of Chorey for the Duke of Burgundy. In 1382, the estate was transferred to Guichard Dauphin, Senechal du Nivernais, by inheritance via Marguerite de Frôlois, his wife. The 17th century remains, visible on the 1826 cadastre, show a partially modified configuration, with destroyed buildings and recomposed commons.

The current architecture combines a rectangular central pavilion flanked by a square tower and a wing in return (south), communes to the north, two isolated towers (northwest/southwest), and a dovecote. The roofs, covered with flat tiles, adopt various shapes: croupes, pavilions or peppers. The facades, pierced with rectangular bays, and the 17th-century moat still in water underline the defensive and residential character of the site. An alley connects the castle to Jacques Germain Street (RD 2a), crossing a park and a black pinot fence.

Partially listed as historical monuments since November 10, 1976 (façades, roofs, dovecotes, balustrades), the castle preserves traces of 18th and 19th century changes, such as the bays with balconys. The ditches, perhaps dated from the thirteenth century according to the owners, and the buildings on the 1826 cadastre attest to a constant evolution. Today the private property, the site remains girded with a stone wall topped with lava, preserving its historical and wine-making character.

The dominant materials — coated stone rubble, flat tiles (including some plumbers) — and the L-shaped layout of building bodies reflect both the medieval heritage and subsequent adaptations. The communes, organised around a central body flanked by pavilions, probably housed agricultural or domestic activities related to the surrounding wine-growing, typical of Burgundy.

The castle thus illustrates the transition between fortress and seigneurial residence, then wine estate, in the heart of a region where vines and history have been closely intersected since the Middle Ages. Its inscription in historical monuments protects both architectural and landscape heritage, a witness to local social and economic dynamics.

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