Château de Thoury

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Thoury is a former fortified castle located in the commune of Saint-Pourçain-sur-Besbre, in the Allier department. A stone fortification existed there as early as the 12th century, succeeding an earlier castle motte; the present building dates mostly from the 15th century. The first known lord, Rodolphe de Thoury, is mentioned in 1164. The seigneury remained in the de Thoury family until the early 15th century, when Guicharde de Thoury married Jean de l'Espinasse. In 1501 the estate passed to Charles Sorel, nephew of Agnès Sorel, favourite of King Charles VII. It subsequently changed hands several times: to the de Rollat family through the marriage of Marguerite Sorel in 1542, then to Pierre Roussaut in 1636, to Philippe de Brinon in 1653, to Jean-François Valette de Rochevert in 1715 and to Clément Conny from 1751. The de Conny de Lafay family still lives at the château in the 21st century. The château retains a fortified enclosure flanked by two main buildings linked by high curtain walls, a main gate with machicolations and two towers with pepper-pot roofs. A 16th-century Italian-style gallery adorns the ensemble. The original drawbridge was replaced by a fixed bridge in the 17th century, and the moats were filled in in 1870. Now open to the public, the château houses a hunting museum in a guard tower and hosts concerts and exhibitions within a vast landscaped park.