Château de Pierreclos

History

Pierreclos appears in the charters of Cluny from the late 9th century, and a church stood here before the castle. The oldest known lord was Étienne de Berzé. From 1403 the fief belonged to the Bletterans family, and in 1434 it passed by marriage to the Rougemont. The castle suffered from the Armagnacs in 1422, the Écorcheurs in 1437, the troops of Louis XI in 1471 and Protestant forces in 1562.

In 1665 Jean-Baptiste Michon, a royal finance official from Lyon, bought Pierreclos and carried out major works, and his arms with that date appear on the entrance gate. His sons added Berzé and Milly to their lands. In July 1789 the château was attacked three days running during the Great Fear. The last of the Michon line, Léon de Pierreclau, was in fact Lamartine's son, and he died in 1841.

The estate was sold off from 1817, and in 1829 Jacques Chaland of Saint-Chamond bought the château, which his heirs kept until 1909. It then belonged to the Darnat family, silk manufacturers from Lyon, and later hosted summer camps for children from Aubervilliers. In 1989 the Pidault family acquired it, restored it and opened it to visitors. It is now a family-run wine estate.

Architecture

An avenue paved in herringbone leads to a gate between two small pavilions and an arched passage bearing the Michon arms. A tall square tower with the corbels of a vanished wall-walk rises at the south-east. The main lodging is served by a suspended spiral stair with groin-vaulted landings on Tuscan pillars. Nearby stand the choir and bell tower of a 12th-century church.