En un regard
Le château en bref
One kilometre from the village of Saint-André-de-Chalencon, above the Ance gorges, Chalencon Castle was the cradle of the family of the same name, one of the most important in the Velay. Its main building campaigns date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Through the marriage of a Chalencon heiress to a member of the Polignac family, the fortress passed to that powerful house, whose descendants still own it. Abandoned around 1600, the castle retains a circular crenellated keep that has remained largely intact, fortification walls stepped across three terraces and, to the west, remains of corner turrets with windows from the late 13th century. The Romanesque seigneurial chapel, protected separately, retains an apse with five arcades, a bell dated 1499 and a coffered ceiling with painted panels from the 17th century. The ruins have been listed as a monument historique since 15 November 1913. The site can be visited in season, either freely or with a guide; nearby, the so-called Devil's Bridge spans the Ance and has given rise to a local legend.
