Mauzun Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Perched on a volcanic butte overlooking the plains of the Livradois, east of Clermont-Ferrand, the ruins of Mauzun Castle form one of the largest fortresses in Auvergne. The site, already occupied in Gallic and then Roman times, served as a defensive position for the counts of Auvergne. In 1209, the last heiress bequeathed the stronghold to her uncle Robert de La Tour, Bishop of Clermont, and the fortress was largely rebuilt in the first half of the 13th century; from 1256 onward, it served as a summer residence for the bishops. It had a triple enceinte and nineteen towers, as the Siméoni map drawn in 1560 still shows. Taken by the English in 1370 and retaken in 1385, it weathered the Wars of Religion and suffered a final siege in 1632, during the revolt of the Grands. Becoming national property in 1790, it fell into ruin. Listed as a historic monument on 13 May 1970, the remains have enjoyed additional protection since 2013; they are undergoing gradual consolidation and are open to the public.