Château de Rochessauve

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Rochessauve stands north-west of the village of Rochessauve in Ardèche, at the tip of a north-south basalt spur, at the foot of an amphitheatre of volcanic rocks overlooking the Rhône valley, with views reaching as far as the Vercors and the Alps. Its history is documented from the late 12th century: in 1175, Geoffroy de Barrès undertook to return the fortress to Jocerand de Saint-Romain, and in 1206 a succession dispute set the Bishop of Viviers, Burnon, against Count Aymar de Poitiers over ownership of the site; an arbitration delivered by King Peter II of Aragon then established that the lords of Barrès would hold the site from the count, who would in turn hold it from the Church of Viviers. The building visible today, however, shows no architectural features dating back to the 12th-13th centuries and appears to date from the late Middle Ages at the earliest. Built of dressed stone, it takes the form of a large fortified house (maison forte) without towers or keep, its walls partly covered in ivy. Privately owned, the castle is now used as a guest house.