Château de Sassenage

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Sassenage, formerly known as the Château Bérenger, is a listed historic monument located in the commune of Sassenage, in the Isère department and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and, formerly, in the province of Dauphiné. Built in the seventeenth century on the site of a former fortified castle dating from the thirteenth century, the building stands at the entrance to a wooded estate of eight hectares. Historically, this large manor house is the third to have been built on the same site, at the foot of the cliffs of the northern Vercors massif by the powerful lords of Sassenage, members of one of the oldest and most prestigious families of the Dauphiné, a territory then attached to the Holy Roman Empire, before passing under the direct authority of the King of France following the transfer of the Dauphiné to France in 1349. The château has retained its original furniture, decorations and paintings (notably a painted cycle depicting the goddess Psyche, modelled on that of the Villa Farnesina in Rome), as well as its kitchen. It remains open to the public for guided tours during certain periods. The buildings, the park and the avenue of chestnut trees leading to the whole estate have been listed as historic monuments by an order of 9 September 1942, and since 1971 the property has belonged to the Fondation de France following a bequest from the last member of the family to own the estate.