Château de Mazoncle
This château in the Charolais region was built by Antoine de Saint-Anthost, a protégé of King Henri II and Queen Catherine de Médicis from 1559 to ...
A sophisticated château, built between 1559 and 1562 by the Burgundian parliamentarian Antoine de Saint-Anthost, appointed 1st President of the Parliament of Rouen and a protégé of King Henry II and Queen Catherine de Médicis at the height of the War of Religions.
A curious, massive square castle with a double pavilion, built on two T-shaped dividing walls in an innovative structure, originally topped with a huge tiled roof. Was it inspired by the treatises of Renaissance architect Philibert de L'Orme?
Its very restrained ornamentation for the Renaissance period, and its defence systems designed to protect its inhabitants in these troubled times, make it an original château for its time.
Altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the château is at the centre of a rural estate that was reorganised in the 19th century, with the creation of large Communs, set in English-style parkland.
Guided tour of the exterior.