Château de Noyers-sur-Serein

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Noyers-sur-Serein, or Vieux Château, is a former medieval fortress located in Noyers, in what is now the Yonne department in northern Burgundy. Built before the 11th century by the lords of Noyers, the château was enlarged and fortified at the beginning of the 13th century by Hugues de Noyers, Bishop of Auxerre. The most notable figure of this powerful family line is unquestionably Miles X de Noyers, Marshal of France and counsellor to the king. The county of Noyers then passed to the Dukes of Burgundy for a century, and the château was one of the keys to the duchy. Owned by the Prince of Condé, leader of the Huguenot party, Noyers became, during the Wars of Religion, the scene of fierce battles and sieges between Catholics and Protestants, and later between Catholic League supporters and royalists, before being destroyed in 1599 on the orders of King Henri IV. Only the ruins remain of what was, according to the historian Ernest Petit, a “formidable fortress, one of the most considerable in all of Burgundy”.