En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château du Vieux Bostz, or Vieux Bost, is located at Besson, in the Allier department, reached by the D65 from the direction of Cressanges. It should not be confused with the Château du Bostz (or Nouveau Bostz), a late 19th-century residence located 500 metres to the south-west, beyond a wooded area, which also belongs to the Lobkowicz family. The present building is the result of successive building campaigns from the 15th to the 18th century, the main campaign dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The château is a seigneurial residence of rectangular plan, flanked by square towers on the courtyard side and round towers on the park side. It includes a 17th-century chapel adorned with a wrought-iron grille with motifs inspired by the military (cannons, trumpets, flags), a fountain of Volvic stone, and an 18th-century octagonal pavilion near a pond. From 1578 the property belonged successively to Nicolas Chaumas and then to the Delaunay, Roussel de Tilly, Biotière and Bourbon-Busset families; Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset brought it by marriage to the House of Bourbon-Parma. The château now belongs to Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz, a descendant by succession. The facades and roofs of the château and the chapel, the fountain pavilion and the gates are classified as historic monuments, while the facades and roofs of the outbuildings are listed, by orders of 13 February 1928 and 22 March 1983. A restoration has been under way since 2001 with the support of the State and the department; the château is not open to visitors.
