Château de Ruffey
A castle with rock-cut ditches and round towers in a quiet hamlet of Sennecey-le-Grand.
- Medieval fortress
- 50 min from Beaune
- Private, seen from outside
- 13th century
€175one way from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Commune
- Sennecey-le-Grand · Saône-et-Loire
- Style
- Medieval moated castle
- Heritage
- Registered historic monument
Getting there
Private driver from Beaune: 50 min by road (57 km), €175 one way for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the château
In the hamlet of Ruffey, at the bottom of a small valley near Sennecey-le-Grand, stands a castle ringed by wide ditches cut into the rock. Round towers, a square tower and a main lodging with mullioned windows survive. The powerful Brancion family probably built it in the 13th century.
History
Ruffey was probably built in the 13th century by the Brancion family, on the site of a former Roman post. When the Brancion possessions were broken up, the fief passed in the 14th century to the Nanton family. At the end of the 15th century Claude de Lugny improved the castle and built a seigneurial chapel on the south side of the church of Saint-Julien.
In the 16th century Ruffey passed by inheritance to the Seyssel La Chambre family, who sold it to the Bauffremont lords of Sennecey. In 1714 it was separated from the barony for the Duke of Lauzun, who later ceded it to the Gontaut-Biron family. Sold during the Revolution and partly destroyed, it was abandoned around 1825 until J.-B. Virey began to restore it in 1875.
Architecture
The castle occupies a rectangular platform, protected on the north and west by broad ditches cut into the rock. Three round towers and a square tower marked the corners, and a gate with a drawbridge once led to a fortified farmyard. Today an isolated west tower survives, with the main lodging and a short wing on the east, lit by mullioned windows and warmed by large moulded fireplaces.
Visiting
Tips for your visit
Ruffey is private property and is not open to visitors, so please respect the owners' privacy. In the centre of Sennecey-le-Grand you can see the surviving pavilions and moats of the old Bauffremont château, and the abbey of La Ferté is only a short drive away.
Around here
What to combine with Château de Ruffey on the same day, nearest first.
Questions
Château de Ruffey is about 50 min from Beaune by road (57 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €175 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? At Ruffey a wall-walk runs inside the thickness of the walls, at the base of the roofs. The same defensive arrangement is repeated in the castle's outbuildings.
Sources
Château de Ruffey with a private driver
€175 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests