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Origin and history

The Château de Présilly, located on the heights of the eponymous village in the Jura, is a building built from the 11th to the 15th century. Its rectangular dungeon, dated from the 11th century, is distinguished by three-metre thick walls, a vaulted ground floor of 10 meters high serving as arsenal, and a floor equipped with murderers and reserves for the guards. A 13th century court, with a round road, delimits the inner courtyard, where remains of buildings such as a probable kitchen and a guard room, as well as an old prison.

In the 15th century, the heirs of Nicolas Rolin added a pentagonal barbacan to the west, protected by a ditch and a drawbridge. The castle, 8 meters wide, can be isolated from the rest of the fortress thanks to these defensive devices. The castle, a successive property of the families of Dramalay (until the 15th century), of Nicolas Rolin, then of the Counts of Montrevel (XVIth–XVIIIth centuries), undergoes modifications with each change of hands. In 1673, during the Dutch War, Lacuzon dismantled him to prevent his use by the French enemy.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1955, the site, invaded by vegetation in the late 1940s, was restored thanks to the construction sites of young Scouts and volunteers. The association Les Balladins du château, founded in the 1980s, now manages and organizes archaeological excavations. The ruins, described by Charles Nodier in 1825 in the picturesque and romantic voyages, testify to his strategic and architectural importance.

The castle also consists of an adjoining dovecote, classified with ruins. Its location on Crotard Hill, 638 metres above sea level, offers a dominant view of the village. Defensive elements, such as the drawbridge and the murderers, illustrate its role as a strong place throughout the centuries.

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