--- title: "Château de Couchey: History and Architecture" description: "13th-century fortified house turned château around 1556, two round towers and a gate tower. Seen from outside only, private driver from Beaune." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-couchey lang: en updated: 2026-09-29 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/chateaux/chateau-de-couchey.png --- # Château de Couchey > Château de Couchey: a medieval fortified house that grew into a château at the western edge of Couchey. Château de Couchey is in Couchey (Côte-d'Or), 37 min by road (37 km) from Beaune. Private, seen from outside · 13th to 18th centuries · Private driver from Beaune: €130 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. At the end of the Impasse du Vieux Château, on the western edge of Couchey, stands an old fortified house that grew into a château over five centuries. Its two round towers and central gate tower are typical of the small lordly seats of the Côte. It is privately owned and seen only from outside. ## Key facts - Type: Manor - Location: 30 km north of Beaune · Côte de Nuits - Coordinates: 47.2597, 4.9785 - 37 min from Beaune - Private, seen from outside - 13th to 18th centuries - Commune: Couchey · Côte-d'Or - Style: Fortified house remodelled as a château - From Beaune: ≈ 37 min · 37 km - €560 for a [full-day wine tour](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) from Beaune, up to 4 guests ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 37 min by road (37 km), €130 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History A fortified house belonging to Ponce Chanlard is recorded at Couchey in the early 13th century. From 1252 to 1394 it belonged to the Le Pitois family. The Saulx family then strengthened it and built its north-east tower. Through marriage it passed to Pierre de Bauffremont and then to the Longvy family. Around 1556 Claude de Longvy, cardinal de Givry, fitted out the western living quarters, turning the fortified house into a château. In 1652 Couchey passed to Jean de Mesgrigny, and in 1696 to Jacques Languet, a royal treasurer, who had the eastern curtain wall cut down to parapet height. His daughter had the château altered and restored around 1720, using masons from Aubusson. Seized in 1792 during the Revolution, it was sold to a man who traded in its reusable materials and then resold the buildings in three lots. ## Architecture The château has a main building of two storeys including an attic, with long tiled roofs, conical tower roofs and dormer windows with rounded pediments. Two round towers flank the west front, and a central gate tower is crossed by a covered passage with a basket-handle arch, where a side door has an ogee lintel. West of the château stands a round dovecote with a conical roof of flat tiles. ## Visiting The château is private and not open to visitors. It stands at the end of a small lane at the western end of the village, so please respect the owners' privacy. Couchey lies between Marsannay-la-Côte and Fixin, just off the Route des Grands Crus, and makes a brief stop on a drive along the northern Côte de Nuits. ## Did you know? When the château was sold during the Revolution, its buyer made money by selling off every building material he could reuse, before reselling what remained in three separate lots. ## Around Château de Couchey What to combine with Château de Couchey on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Marsannay-la-Côte](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/marsannay-la-cote) (1 km away): Gateway to the Côte de Nuits and Burgundy's only village appellation making red, white and rosé. - [Fixin](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/fixin) (2 km away): A quiet wine village with Napoleon in the woods, a Romanesque church in the vines and firm reds. - [Gevrey-Chambertin](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/gevrey-chambertin) (4 km away): Nine grands crus, more than any other Burgundy village, led by Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. ### Châteaux - [Château de Marsannay](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-marsannay) (1 km away): A modern wine château at the northern gateway to the Côte de Nuits. - [Manoir de la Perrière](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/manoir-de-la-perriere) (2 km away): A Cistercian manor above Fixin, with one of the oldest wine presses in Burgundy. - [Château de Brochon](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-brochon) (2 km away): A Loire-style château built by the poet who gave the Côte d'Azur its name. ### Things to do - [Domaine du Clos Saint-Louis](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/domaine-du-clos-saint-louis-fixin) (1 km away): A five-generation family domaine in Fixin, with a vine-to-cellar visit and a tasting in a vaulted cellar. - [Saint-Antoine Church, Fixey (Église Saint-Antoine de Fixey)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/eglise-saint-antoine-de-fixey), 1 km away: A small Romanesque church above the vines of Fixin, with a stone roof and a glazed-tile bell tower. - [Noisot Park and Museum (Parc et Musée Noisot)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/parc-noisot-fixin), 2 km away: A pine-covered hillside above Fixin, created by a loyal grenadier as a shrine to Napoleon. ### Restaurants - [La Table d’Hôte, La Rôtisserie du Chambertin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/la-table-d-hote-rotisserie-du-chambertin-gevrey) (4 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred tasting table in an eighteenth-century house in the heart of Gevrey-Chambertin - [Origine](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/origine-dijon) (8 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A Lameloise-trained Japanese chef cooking Burgundy's seasons on place Wilson - [William Frachot](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/william-frachot-dijon) (8 km away · 2 MICHELIN stars): Dijon's two-star table, reinventing Burgundy's classics inside the Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge ### Events - **Usually a weekend in early March.** · [Journées Gourmandes de Marsannay-la-Côte](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/journees-gourmandes-marsannay): A long-running spring food fair at the northern gate of the Route des Grands Crus. (Food & markets · Marsannay-la-Côte) - **Usually a Sunday in early June.** · [La Patarate Gourmande](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/patarate-gourmande-marsannay): A six-kilometre walk through the Marsannay vineyard with a meal served in five stops. (Food & markets · Marsannay-la-Côte) ## Questions about Château de Couchey ### How far is Château de Couchey from Beaune? Château de Couchey is about 37 min from Beaune by road (37 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €130 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### Can you visit Château de Couchey? Château de Couchey is private and not open to visitors. You can see it from the road or the village, and your driver can stop there on the way. ### Can a private driver take us to Château de Couchey? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=wine-tour&option=full&place=chateau:couchey): Full-day wine tour from Beaune: €560 for the car, up to 4 guests ## Sources - --- Canonical page: