Château de Lourdon

History

Lourdon is recorded in the late 9th century, and its land was linked to the foundation of the abbey of Cluny in 910. From the 11th century the abbots often stayed here. The castle was coveted by local lords and seized several times in the 12th century, which led kings Louis VII and Philip Augustus to intervene in favour of the abbey.

From the 14th century the castle sheltered the monks, their library, their archives and their treasure in times of danger. It was ravaged by royal troops in 1470 and occupied by those of Charles the Bold, then restored by Abbot Jean de Bourbon. Protestants seized it in 1574 and left it in ruins. From 1586 Abbot Claude de Guise rebuilt it and added a real-tennis hall.

After a successful defence in 1613, the Estates of the Mâconnais called for the fortress to be dismantled. In 1632, when Cardinal Richelieu was abbot of Cluny, its fortified parts were blown up with mines, sparing the abbot's lodging, the stables and the tennis hall. Sold in 1791, the ruins have stayed in the same family, and since 2013 the association Castrum Lordo has cared for them.

Architecture

The ruins occupy a platform of about one hectare. Archaeologists picture a fortress whose inner walls measured about 100 by 70 metres, dominated by a great round tower 18 metres wide. Today you can see a tall wall of the abbot's lodging, the restored powder tower and the 40-metre hall of the real-tennis court of 1586, while traces of a long outer wall with twelve towers remain.