A moated Renaissance château where Marshal Mac-Mahon was born, still home to his family.
€560for a full-day wine tour from Beaune, up to 4 guests
Private driver from Beaune: 36 min by road (36 km), €125 one way for the whole car.
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The Château de Sully is one of the great Renaissance houses of Burgundy, in the valley of the Drée between Autun and Beaune. Four wings around a courtyard stand inside water-filled moats. It has belonged to the Mac-Mahon family since the 18th century, and the Duchess of Magenta still lives here.
Gaspard de Saulx-Tavannes, a marshal of France, commissioned the château around 1570, to designs by the architect Nicolas Ribonnier. Building went on for half a century and was finished between 1616 and 1621. The new house was built in front of an older medieval residence, and parts of its walls still survive behind one of the courtyard façades, a reminder of the earlier castle.
In 1714 Claude de Morey bought the estate and rebuilt the north façade and its terraces. The château then passed to the Mac-Mahon family, who still own it. Patrice de Mac-Mahon was born here in 1808. He became a Marshal of France, was made Duke of Magenta after his victory there in 1859, and served as President of the Republic from 1873 to 1879.
In the 19th century the interiors were largely remodelled, and a landscape garden was laid out around 1890. The family also fitted out a small private theatre in the north outbuildings. Later used as a workshop, it was restored and reopened in 2024. In 1995 the whole estate was classified as a historic monument, from the moats, bridges and chapel to the theatre, stables, orangery, farm, kitchen garden and park.
Four wings enclose a central courtyard, with square towers set at an angle at each corner, all surrounded by moats fed by the Drée. The courtyard façades are fully Renaissance, with rusticated arches below, Ionic pilasters, niches and carved heads above. A stone bridge leads to the west front, and the park holds a chapel, stables, an orangery and a dovecote.
The longer tour with the theatre or the bedrooms starts at 15:30 on weekdays.
Checked on on the official site.
Sully is open from early April to the start of November. Guided tours cover the furnished rooms, and the ticket includes the park and the kitchen garden. On weekday afternoons a longer tour adds another part of the house, such as the little theatre or the bedrooms, depending on the day. Allow about two hours.
What to combine with Château de Sully on the same day, nearest first.
Château de Sully is about 36 min from Beaune by road (36 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €125 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? The park holds a statue of Marshal Mac-Mahon that once stood in Algiers, and a wash-house built in the style of a Russian log cabin, recorded as a lavoir-isba.
Sources
Full-day wine tour from Beaune: €560 for the car, up to 4 guests
