Château de Vogüé

The castle, located at the foot of a limestone cliff and on the banks of the Ardèche river, overlooks the village of Vogüé, classified among The Most Beautiful Villages of France, in the French department of Ardèche.

The lords of Vogüé, as early as 1084, occupied the site and drew comfortable revenues from the river toll, enough to build a solid square-plan fortress. The castle is believed to have been built at the end of the 12th century on the order of Raymond I de Vogüé. In the 14th century, it became the property of the de La Gorce family, and in the 15th century, it was rebuilt by the Rochemure du Besset, who added four towers. In 1603, Marquis Melchior I, Grand Bailiff of Vivarais, repurchased the castle, which he redeveloped in the Renaissance style. At this time, the hanging garden above the filled-in moats was notably created. In the 17th century, it was abandoned after Charles de Vogüé moved to the Château d'Aubenas. The castle was burned and plundered during the French Revolution, and sold as national property. It was repurchased half a century later, in 1839, by the Marquis de Vogüé, Léonce de Vogüé, who restored it and established a school there run by the Sisters of Saint-Joseph d'Aubenas. The establishment closed in 1960. Since 1971, the castle has hosted temporary exhibitions open to all disciplines (painting, engraving, sculpture, photography, ceramics, glass, etc.) and the collection of the engraver Jean Chièze (1898–1975).

The Château de Vogüé, dating from the 15th century, takes the form of a vast quadrangular building flanked by four large round towers and retains the base of a 12th-century tower. It was at the beginning of the 17th century that all the facades and towers were pierced with large mullioned windows and oeil-de-boeuf windows. The north facade is opened by a large rusticated door. The balcony as well as the hanging gardens also date from these same alterations. It houses a 17th-century salon as well as the Hall of the Estates of Vivarais. The castle chapel has been redeveloped with elements from the chapel of Rochecolombe: the bas-relief of the twelve Apostles (16th century), a monstrance that housed the relics of Saint Bartholomew, and a 13th-century coat of arms of the Vogüé family. The stained glass windows were created in 1980 by the painter Alfred Manessier.

Librairie Hachette and société d'études et de publications économiques, Merveilles des châteaux de Provence, Paris, Collection Réalités Hachette, April 1988, 324 p. Charles-Laurent Salch, Dictionnaire des châteaux et des fortifications du Moyen Âge en France, Strasbourg, Éditions Publitotal, 1987, 28th ed. (1st ed. 1979), 1304 p. (ISBN 2-86535-070-3, OCLC 1078727877), p. 1249, Vogüé. Guillaume de Vogüé, « Le château de Vogüé et ses métamorphoses : dans cahier consacré aux châteaux et grands domaines en Ardèche, de la Renaissance à nos jours (actes d'un colloque en 2014 à Annonay-Davézieux) », Cahier de Mémoire d'Ardèche et Temps Présent, no 126,‎ 15 May 2015.

Vogüé List of castles in Ardèche Vogüé Family Sundial of the Vogüé presbytery

Official website

Resource related to architecture: Mérimée

Portal of French castles Portal of Ardèche Portal of French historical monuments