Château de La Rochepot

History

A castle stood here by the 12th century, then known as La Roche-Nolay after the nearby town of Nolay. In 1403 Régnier Pot, chamberlain to King Charles VI and councillor of the Duke of Burgundy, bought it, and the place took his family's name. The Pots held it through the 15th century. In 1644 the Cardinal de Retz sold it to Pierre Legoux de la Berchère, a leading Burgundian magistrate.

During the Revolution the castle was seized as national property. In 1799 it was sold and largely demolished. In 1893 Cécile Carnot, wife of President Sadi Carnot, bought the ruins and gave them to her eldest son at New Year 1894. With the architect Charles Suisse, he rebuilt the castle in the spirit of the 15th century. Work began in 1897, paused during the First World War and ended in 1927.

The castle was classified as a historic monument in 2014, together with its outbuildings, park and the ruins of the older castle. It changed hands in 2015, when the Carnot descendants sold it to foreign investors. The new owner soon ran into legal trouble, and the castle closed to the public in 2018. In 2026 the courts confirmed its confiscation by the French State, which is expected to sell it.

Architecture

The castle has a triangular plan, with two round towers and a square tower at its corners, and is entered over drawbridges. Its roofs of glazed Burgundy tiles follow local medieval models, and Charles Suisse borrowed details from Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, another Pot family castle. Inside, he designed Gothic Revival rooms down to the floor tiles, and a chapel decorated with paintings by Charles Lameire.