En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château d'Alleuze, in the Cantal, was built in the 13th century by the constables of Auvergne and initially belonged to the bishops of Clermont. Square in plan and flanked by round towers at each corner, a layout characteristic of the 14th century, it was seized during the Hundred Years' War by the English troops of Bernard de Garlan, who for seven years used it as a base for plundering the region and holding it to ransom. In 1405, the inhabitants of Saint-Flour destroyed the castle to forestall any new threat; its owner at the time, Monseigneur de la Tour, forced them to rebuild it exactly as it had been. The Huguenots seized it in 1575. The bishops of Clermont later converted its towers into a prison. The Chapel of Saint-Illide, built in the 13th and 15th centuries, is part of the castle complex. Now maintained as a ruin and listed as a historic monument since 1927, the site has been awarded two stars by the Michelin Green Guide, which describes it as a remarkably romantic site.