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Origin and history

The fortified house of La Forest, also known locally as Rossillon Castle, is a fortified house built at the very end of the 14th century, more precisely in 1398. It is located in the commune of Rossillon, in the department of Ain, in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. This monument, partially restored, is flanked by a square tower and preserves original architectural elements such as chimneys and false stone apparatus decorations. It served as a prison in the 19th century, then as a gendarmerie barracks on horseback in the early 20th century.

The village of Rossillon, located in the Cluse des Hopitaux, played a strategic role in the Savoy States until 1326, as the capital of chestnut and bailliage. Rossillon's first castle, now extinct, was perched on a rock 100 metres above the village. After a fire in 1353 during the conflict of the Delphino Savoyard, which ravaged Rossillon, the siege of the Bugey bailiffs was transferred to Belley.

The fort house of La Forest was built by Guillaume de La Forest, named after Rossillon and Oyonnax in 1398. This character, close to the Counts of Savoy (page of Count Vert, squire of Count Rouge), also had the choir of the local church rebuilt and was buried there in 1440. The châtellenie remained in his family until 1523, with notable figures such as Antoine de La Forest, governor of Nice, who saved the Duke Philibert from the hands of Charles the Temerary.

In 1536, when François I took over the Bugey, Philibert de La Forest, grandson of Hugues, paid tribute to the king of France for Rossillon's chestnut. From 1550 on, the services of chestnut declined and were less exercised by the nobility. The fortified house, with its dovecote and U-shaped outbuildings, was listed as historic monuments on 5 September 2005.

Architecturally, the house consists of two floors served by a spiral staircase in a round tower. The parts have retained their original elements, and the whole is extended by vaulted buildings. Nearby, the church, restored at the same time as the strong house by the lords of La Forest, houses the tombs of William (1440) and his son John I (1466), as well as a side chapel decorated with their weapons.

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