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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The dovecoier known as Tour de Cossieux, located in the hamlet of Cossieux in Jujurieux (Ain), is a historic monument registered since 1984. Built between 1788 and 1794 by Guillaume Antoine Framinet, parish priest of Lacoux, it dominates the Riez valley. This dovecote, initially isolated, became an inseparable part of the castle of Cossieux, later built by the Bonnet family, local industrialists.

The Château de Cossieux was founded by Victor Bonnet, son of Claude-Joseph Bonnet, director of Establishments C.J. Bonnet. In 1880, Victor Bonnet enlarged the house inherited from his family to make it an imposing thirty-room castle, centered around a dungeon of more than thirty meters. The estate, still owned by descendants, includes a landscaped park and a summer pavilion, both linked to the industrial and family history of the Bonnet.

The Tour de Cossieux also has a symbolic dimension: Victor Roux, French resistant and descendant of Claude-Joseph Bonnet, adopted "Cossieux" as pseudonym in homage to the place. Son of César Roux and Blanche Mulsant, owners of the castle, he was lieutenant in the Secret Army during World War II. This link between architectural heritage and resistant memory adds a historical layer to the site.

The historical sources, such as the writings of H. Durand (1855) or A. Raverat (1867), underline the strategic and social importance of the dovecote in Bugey. Originally, this type of construction reflected the seigneurial or ecclesiastical power, embodied here by the parish priest Framinet. The inscription of the dovecote alone, distinctly from the castle, bears witness to its own heritage value.

Today, the dovecote and the castle remain private property, managed by the heirs of the Bonnet. Although information on its access (visits, rentals) is limited, the site maintains a precise location: 333 Rue du Pittion in Jujurieux, in a setting dominated by the Riez valley and the Bugey landscape.

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