En un regard
Le château en bref
On the height overlooking Montmirey-le-Château, at the northern edge of the Jura, only a few fragments remain of a stronghold that was nonetheless one of the major strongholds of the County of Burgundy. The castle, probably built between the 12th and 14th centuries, watched over the road linking Pesmes to Dole and a fairly populous rural district.
Its heyday came in the early 14th century. In 1306, Eudes de Souvent, lord of Saint-Loup, ceded the castle to Mahaut of Artois, Countess of Burgundy, who then extended her holdings through a series of purchases until 1310. Threatened by her rival Jean de Chalon-Arlay, she had major fortification works carried out there. The Franche-Comté archives preserve traces of life at the site, such as a wooden house granted within the enceinte in 1411.
The fortress was ruined in 1477, during the conquest of Franche-Comté by Louis XI. Overgrown with vegetation, a few stretches of wall, a chimney, ditches and underground passages recall its existence. The commune bought back the ruins and their grounds in 2003.