Home of the La Guiche family since 1416, with one of the largest private stables in France.
€235one way from Beaune with a private driver
Private driver from Beaune: 1 h 07 by road (86 km), €235 one way for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
On a rise between Cluny and Charolles, at Saint-Bonnet-de-Joux, the estate of Chaumont has belonged to the La Guiche family for six centuries. Its Renaissance château, later given a neo-Gothic front, stands in an English-style park. The highlight of a visit is the palatial stable block built between 1648 and 1652.
An old fortress on the borders of the Charolais, Chaumont was bought in 1416 by Girard de La Guiche. After Claude de La Guiche backed Charles the Bold, his castle was pillaged and razed in 1477. His son Pierre served the kings of France as an ambassador and, from about 1500, began a new château in the style of the early French Renaissance, advised by his wife's uncle, Jacques d'Amboise, abbot of Cluny.
In 1584 Philibert de La Guiche, grand master of the artillery, completed the château. His daughter Henriette built the stables between 1648 and 1652 for the guard of her husband, Louis-Emmanuel de Valois, duke of Angoulême and a grandson of King Charles IX. The château fell into ruin at the Revolution, and in 1801 all but its Renaissance east wing was pulled down.
The landscape designer Châtelain laid out the English-style park, and from 1850 the architect Charles Laisné added a neo-Gothic west front. In June 1944 the marquis de La Guiche, mayor of the village, was arrested in the château, then occupied by German troops. The stables were classified in 1982, and the park and stables opened to the public in 2015.
The stables have the proportions of a vast Burgundian barn dressed as a palace. Two tall chimney stacks rise above the richly carved façade, which is set off by two monumental outside staircases. Above the main door, a niche holds the equestrian statue of Philibert de La Guiche. Inside, three vaulted aisles held two rows of horses, a layout said to follow an ideal stable designed by Leonardo da Vinci.
Guided tours start at 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:00, and private visits can be booked all year.
Checked on on the official site.
The stables are shown on guided tours in summer, from late July to about 20 September, and private visits can be booked all year. The estate also hosts shows, equestrian evenings, weddings and a Christmas event, and three holiday cottages stand near the château. The château itself remains the family home.
What to combine with Château de Chaumont on the same day, nearest first.
Château de Chaumont is about 1 h 07 from Beaune by road (86 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €235 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? Legend says only the king could keep a hundred horses, so the stables were built for ninety-nine. The hundredth is the stone horse of Philibert de La Guiche above the door.
Sources
€235 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests
