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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Chabert Castle, renamed Boën Castle, is a neoclassical building built between 1779 and 1786 in Boën-sur-Lignon, in the Loire department. Commanded by Jacques-Marie Punctis de la Tour, lord of Boën, it is designed by the Italian architect Michel Dal Gabbio. This castle is the last built before the French Revolution in the Rhône-Alpes region, marking the end of an architectural and social era under the Ancien Régime.

In 1934, the town of Boën-sur-Lignon acquired the castle, which then enjoyed various uses: barracks, primary school, school canteen and headquarters of associations between 1940 and 1970. From 1977, a major restoration was undertaken, in parallel with the creation of the association Le Château de Boën, dedicated to local history and archaeology. The site was listed as a historical monument in 1943, and its exterior elements (courtyard, pavilions, gate) were listed in 1989.

Since 2002, the castle has been home to the Vigne Museum, which in 2011 became the Musée des Vignerons du Forez. Labelled Tourism and Handicap in 2003, it illustrates regional winemaking history. Its neoclassical architecture, inspired by Burgundian models such as Hotel Bouhier de Dijon, includes Louis XVI style interior decorations, including a vaulted room and a dome rotunda. Remnants of the former medieval strong house remain in the south-east pavilion.

Prior to its reconstruction in the 18th century, the site housed a strong house attested as early as 1380, a successive property of the families of Damascus, Lévis, Rivoire, and Camus d'Yvourt. In 1779 Jacques-Marie Punctis de la Tour, the last lord of Boën, ordered his partial demolition to erect the present castle. The work, marked by difficulties (disbandment of the plasterer Anthoine Zanis in 1781), was completed in 1786. The castle remains in the Punctis family and then passes to the Chaberts before it is bought by the commune.

The building combines local materials, such as sandesite for horse-drawn staircase balusters, and Italian architectural techniques. The kitchen, located on the basement floor, is covered with a vault with eight edges, while the Italian living room, called the rotunda, is surmounted by a dome. The revolutionary inventory of 1794 mentions tense Indian walls and a faience stove in the dining room, testimonies of the original luxury.

After decades of damage (fire in 1960), a restoration campaign between 1980 and 1984 saved the building. The association Le Château de Boën, dissolved in 2016, played a key role in its heritage development. Today, the castle combines architectural heritage and museography dedicated to the wine history of the Forez, while remaining a symbol of the seigneurial and revolutionary heritage of the region.

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