Château de Léotoing

En un regard

Le château en bref

Perched on a rocky outcrop above the Alagnon valley, the Château de Léotoing is one of the most spectacular feudal sites in the north of the Haute-Loire. A first fortification was established there around 1060 by a younger branch of the Mercœur family. Around 1261, the Dauphins of Auvergne rebuilt it, and in 1264 they granted a charter of liberties to its inhabitants; Robert Dauphin strengthened its defences around 1365. At the beginning of the 15th century, the lordship split, giving rise to the Léotoing-Montgon branch. The last male representative, Béraud III, married his daughter to Louis de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier: the château then passed to the Montpensiers, and subsequently to the dukes of Orléans. Gradually abandoned from the 16th century onwards, it was sold as national property during the Revolution. Its keep still dominates the valley, surrounded by the remains of residential additions made over the centuries. Listed as a monument historique since 1992, the château is privately owned.