Châteaux of Ardèche to visit during the Castagnades 2026, Monts d'Ardèche chestnut festivals

Castagnades 2026: five Ardèche châteaux to pair with the chestnut festivals

Until 8 November 2026, the Castagnades enliven the villages of the Monts d'Ardèche. Five stops to combine chestnut festivals with château visits: Désaignes, Joyeuse, Hautségur, Aubenas and Joannas.

Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux · 16 October 2026

Ardèche, octobre-novembre

In Ardèche, autumn is measured in chestnuts. From 10 October to 8 November 2026, eleven villages in the Monts d'Ardèche will host the Castagnades in turn, coordinated by the Regional Natural Park. Expect producer markets, gourmet hikes through the chestnut groves, meetings with growers and chestnut-centric menus. Several of these villages grew up at the foot of a château: Joyeuse, which lent its name to a line of dukes; Désaignes, now a museum; or Joannas, whose forecourt serves as a festival square. Here are five stops to pair a Castagnade weekend with a stone-built visit, following the mid-October to early-November calendar.

ARDECHE · Meyras

Château de Hautségur

The Château de Hautségur is located in the commune of Meyras, in the Ardèche, within the Monts d'Ardèche Regional Natural Park, on a hill overlooking the Ardèche valley. Originally a simple 12th-century watchtower attached to the Château de Ventadour, the building was partially destroyed during the Wars of Religion before being rebuilt in the 16th century. The Langlade family acquired it between 1568 and 1597 through François de Langlade; his son Jean de Langlade, a Protestant lord, undertook major Renaissance-style transformations, adding two noble storeys, four bartizans and a large tower. In 1752 the château was sold to Jean Neyrand, a doctor of law, whose descendants kept it until 1892. After several changes of ownership, it was reunited in 2012 under the ownership of Patricia Demangeon, who has led its restoration since 2011 with the support of the Fondation du patrimoine. The building consists of a square central block flanked by a round tower to the west and a stair turret. The ground floor houses a vaulted hall of about 100 m², a former men's hall (salle d'hommes) later turned into a kitchen. The remarkably well-preserved spiral staircase ends in an "umbrella" or palm motif. The château retains Renaissance fireplaces and a doorway decorated with a Latin inscription taken from Psalm 126. The towers, partially destroyed during the Wars of Religion, were later truncated during the Revolution. The Château de Hautségur has been listed (inscrit) as a historic monument by decree of 13 January 1937.

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The château of Ventadour at Meyras, seen from Pont-de-Labeaume, overlooking the Ardèche Valley — Ventadour viewed from Pont-de-Labeaume: a fortress painstakingly rebuilt stone by stone by volunteers since 1969. — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

ARDECHE · Aubenas

Château d'Aubenas

A landmark of civil architecture in the Ardèche, the Château d'Aubenas, also known as the Château de Montlaur, stands in the commune of Aubenas, in the Ardèche department and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. This "building of metamorphoses" bears the mark of the six lordly families who lived in it from the 12th century until the Revolution. It has been classified as a historic monument since 2 March 1943.

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Planning your visit

Sources

2026 agenda of the Monts d'Ardèche Regional Natural Park (Castagnades) ↗Monts d'Ardèche Castagnades 2026: 11 villages from 10 October to 8 November ↗Castagnades 2026 in Vesseaux — Ardèche Guide ↗Le Château, Centre for Contemporary and Heritage Art in Aubenas — Ardèche Guide ↗Anne de Joyeuse — Wikipedia ↗

Château de Hautségur

Château d'Aubenas

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