A storybook castle beside a pond, crowned by one of the oldest surviving timber hoardings in France.
€185one way from Beaune with a private driver
Private driver from Beaune: 53 min by road (62 km), €185 one way for the whole car.
Or add it to our full-day wine tour, €560.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
Beside the road through the Grosne valley, Sercy appears reflected in a pond framed by old trees. Towers of every shape surround a tiny courtyard, and one of them still wears a wooden gallery at its top. It is one of the best-preserved and most curious medieval castles of the region.
The first lord of Sercy is mentioned in 1067, probably a younger son of the house of Brancion, and a powerful fortress rose here in the 12th century. Around 1450 Guillaume de Sercy, bailiff of Chalon and first squire of the stables of Duke Philip the Good, improved its defences and its comfort. The young Charles, count of Charolais and future Charles the Bold, served as his page.
In the 16th century Claude de Sercy began a new Renaissance château on the hill nearby, but he died before it was finished, and in 1540 the male line ended with his son. The estate later passed to other families. In 1793 its owner, Claude Perroy de La Foretille, was guillotined in Paris. In 1806 his granddaughter married Baron du Bessey de Contenson, whose descendants still own Sercy.
A tall gate tower in the middle of the east side once carried a covered machicolation that recalls the Papal Palace in Avignon, and a double stone stair was added in front in 1811. A square tower, the round Tower of the Hoarding, the Archives Tower and a much-altered round keep mark the corners. Timber-framed and stone buildings line the small courtyard, and the chapel is Romanesque.
The €2 entry is paid into the letterbox in the old kitchen.
Checked on on bourgogne-tourisme.com.
The owners open the exteriors, the old kitchen and the chapel to visitors in spring, early summer and early autumn. The castle is closed in winter and in August. Even from the roadside, the view across the pond makes a memorable stop between Chalon and Cluny.
What to combine with Château de Sercy on the same day, nearest first.
Château de Sercy is about 53 min from Beaune by road (62 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €185 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? The round Tower of the Hoarding still carries its wooden gallery on stone corbels, a defensive arrangement counted among the oldest known examples in France.
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€185 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests
