En un regard
Le château en bref
Montpon Castle, in Alby-sur-Chéran, is the only one of the seven castles defending Alby that is still well preserved. A first fortified house was built there in 1215 by the Villette family; in 1363 the estate passed to the Richard d'Alby family, whose ducal secretary, François Richard, had the present building largely rebuilt in the 15th century in 1499. It has two storeys above a ground floor, flanked by a square tower of three storeys. An 18th-century low wing features an Italian-inspired gallery with arches alternating between round arches and basket-handle arches; a neo-Gothic chapel and a round turret were added in the mid-19th century. The castle passed through the La Faverge family (1580–1746) and then the Thiollaz family (1801–1973), and suffered two fires (1685, 1719), each followed by repairs. Its park is listed in the preliminary inventory of remarkable gardens.