Château de La Motte

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de la Motte stands in the commune of Accons, in the Ardèche, on a spur overlooking the Dorne valley at an altitude of 520 metres. Built around 1400, it displays military-style architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries, arranged around three towers and an inner courtyard, with a wall-walk linking two corner towers, thirteen bretèches and a bartizan; outbuildings were added to the east in the 16th century. The barony belonged to the Bayle de La Motte family, holders of the office of bailli of Brion: Jean de La Motte inherited it in 1635 and convened the Estates of Vivarais there in 1651. The missionary Jean-François Régis, the future saint, stayed in the region at the same period as part of his mission of Catholic reconquest. The estate then passed to the de Sassenage family (1661) and later to the de Vogué family in the 18th century, before falling to the Marquis de Bozas until 1818, and then to M. Chauveau, mayor of Le Cheylard. Partly burned by German troops in 1944 during fighting with the Resistance, the building underwent a restoration begun in 1964. It now belongs to the Saléon-Terras family and remains a private property that is not open to visitors.