En un regard
Le château en bref
In the Meuse valley, in the south of the department near Vaucouleurs, Montbras Castle is one of the finest Renaissance ensembles in Lorraine. The fief was held in succession by the families of Saint-Élophe, Bourlémont, d'Ourches and Vigneulles. After 1598, Claude II de Verrières and his wife Louise des Salles began building a large château with four bastioned corner pavilions, laid out with its service buildings around a cour d'honneur. Work was halted in 1611, shortly before Louise's death, then resumed, and the decorations were carried out around 1620. The façades are animated by niches housing mythological statues, sculpted trophies and a frieze of grotesque masks running beneath the machicolations. Abandoned from 1643 to 1671, the castle was remodelled in the 18th century by Bernard de Sommyèvre, damaged during the Revolution, then restored from 1876 by Francis de Chanteau and again in 1986. Partially classified as a historic monument since 1974, its interiors were registered in 2012. Privately owned, it offers restoration work and hospitality to pilgrims on the Way of St James.