Château de Besseuil

History

Records show that in 1590 a lordship at Clessé belonged to the canons of Saint-Pierre in Mâcon. In the mid-16th century the estate was owned by Pierre de Sagie of Mâcon, who may have built a first house. In 1646 his son-in-law, Archambaud de Chanuet, a tax receiver in Mâcon, inherited the domain and built a true château, which stayed in his family until the Revolution.

Around 1737 major alterations gave the château its present appearance. In the 19th century the architect Viollet-le-Duc described it as a little jewel. Between May 2005 and October 2007, in a project lasting some two and a half years, the building was completely restored under the direction of the Swiss architect André Meillard. It now welcomes guests as a hotel and restaurant, surrounded by its own vineyard.

Architecture

A courtyard lined with outbuildings and closed by a carriage gate with a fine iron grille precedes the château on the west. The main house is a rectangle under a hipped roof of curved tiles, with a pavilion of equal height at each end and a stair tower in the centre of the façade. Inside, a great fireplace is dated 1657, and a 17th-century chapel stands in the park.