Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Molleron Castle, also known as Moleron, stands on the town of Vaudebarrier, in Saône-et-Loire, overlooking the Ozolette valley. Its architecture combines a body of rectangular main house, adorned with a curved pediment with the coat of arms of the Chanay and Macheco families, with defensive elements such as square turrets and an hors-oeuvre. Inside, a 16th century fireplace, transferred from the Moulin-Lacour castle, and Renaissance frescoes decorate one of the rooms, illustrating the refinement of the period.

Built from 1510 by the Bourgeois family, the castle succeeds a strong house held from the end of the fourteenth century by the Digoine, then passes to Thesut by alliance in the fifteenth century. Over the centuries, he changed his hands through weddings, passing to the Viard, Macheco, and then to the Chanay, which expanded in 1830 by adding square towers and raising the walls. The communes, formerly connected to the home, retain round towers and turrets pierced by oculus, while the estate remains a private property not open to the public.

The history of the castle is marked by local noble families: the Digoine, the first lords attested in 1395, gave way to the Bourgeois, which erected the present castle. The Thesuts, then the Chanays — native to Bresse — leave their architectural and heraldic imprint there. The coat of arms of the Chanay and Levasseur of Bambecque-Mazinghem, visible on a cartridge of the commons, recall these alliances. The site, though transformed, preserves medieval and Renaissance elements, reflecting the evolution of a Burgundy seigneury over six centuries.

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