En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château de Clavières stands in the commune of Saint-Agrève, in the Ardèche, at the Col de Clavière (1,088 m).
Its existence is attested as early as 1359, when it belonged to the Clavières family, originally from the Gévaudan (La Chaise-Dieu). In 1502, Antoine de Tournon married Marie de Clavières, heiress to the estate; the senior branch of the family became counts of Saint-Agrève before dying out in the 18th century. In 1577, during the French Wars of Religion, the castle was occupied by the Protestants and served as a defensive position for the forces of Captain Lacroix. The Bollon family acquired the fief before 1775; the estate then passed to the Bollon de Clavière, Frachon and Madinier families in the 19th and 20th centuries. It now belongs to the SCI de Clavière.
The original building, a 14th-century fortified house, comprised a free-standing tower to the north and a residential wing with a stair tower to the south. The main block was enlarged in the 17th century. In 1911, the Lyon architect Étienne Paume directed a major campaign of works that raised the towers, now topped with conical slate roofs, and renewed the roofing.
The Château de Clavières is privately owned and is not open to visitors.
