--- title: "Château de Ponneau: History of a Manor near Buxy" description: "A 15th-century manor with round towers and an arcaded gallery, facing a 1447 Saint James chapel carved with pilgrim badges. Private, by private driver." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-ponneau lang: en updated: 2026-09-29 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/chateaux/chateau-de-ponneau.png --- # Château de Ponneau > Château de Ponneau: a small 15th-century manor near Buxy, with an arcaded gallery and a chapel of Saint James dated 1447. Château de Ponneau is in Jully-lès-Buxy (Saône-et-Loire), 45 min by road (50 km) from Beaune. Private, seen from outside · 15th century · Private driver from Beaune: €155 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Ponneau is a modest château in the hamlet of the same name at Jully-lès-Buxy, close to the Montagny vineyards. A 15th-century house with round corner towers was given an arcaded gallery in the 17th century. Facing it on a small mound stands a simple chapel founded in 1447. ## Key facts - Type: Manor - Location: 40 km south of Beaune · Saône-et-Loire - Coordinates: 46.6827, 4.7336 - 45 min from Beaune - Private, seen from outside - 15th century - Commune: Jully-lès-Buxy · Saône-et-Loire - Style: Late medieval manor with 17th-century gallery - Heritage: Registered historic monument - From Beaune: ≈ 45 min · 50 km - €155 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 45 min by road (50 km), €155 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 The Joly family appears in the tax records of the duchy of Burgundy throughout the 15th century. In 1428 Jehan Joly was allowed to build a tile works here, and in 1447 Gérard Joly founded the chapel dedicated to the Virgin and to Saint James. In 1549 the fief belonged for a time to Nicolas de Thyard, lord of nearby Bissy, and a fortified house is mentioned in 1583. The estate changed hands many times in the 17th and 18th centuries. Alphonse Bonamour, lord of Ponneau, was buried in the chapel in December 1699. In 1731 it was bought by Henri-Louis Fils-Jean of Rully, whose descendants held it until the Revolution. Around 1880 Paul Adenot restored the chapel. In the 20th century the château belonged to Jean Michaud, who had inherited it from his uncle, General Chaillet. ## Architecture The house is a rectangular block flanked by two round corner towers on its east side, begun in the 15th century and altered later. In the 17th or 18th century a portico and an upper gallery with round arches were added on the west, reached by a rectangular stair tower. The chapel has a barrel-vaulted nave and a rib-vaulted choir, with naive carvings of pilgrim badges and a praying woman. ## Visiting Ponneau is a private property and is not open to visitors, so please respect the owners' privacy. It lies a few minutes from Buxy and the Montagny vineyards, where local cellars welcome visitors, and fits easily into a drive through the southern Côte Chalonnaise. ## Did you know? The chapel's foundation stone records that Gérard Joly built it in 1447. Its simple carvings show the badges of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, fitting for a chapel dedicated to Saint James. ## Around Château de Ponneau What to combine with Château de Ponneau on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Montagny](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/montagny) (6 km away): A white-only appellation of hillside vineyards around Buxy, with a wealth of premiers crus. - [Givry](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/givry) (11 km away): A small wine town of 18th-century monuments, whose red wine is linked by legend to Henri IV. - [Mercurey](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/mercurey) (17 km away): The largest vineyard of the Côte Chalonnaise, known above all for its reds. ### Châteaux - [Château de Saint-Germain-lès-Buxy](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-saint-germain-les-buxy) (4 km away): A moated medieval castle reinvented in the romantic troubadour style by Viollet-le-Duc's son-in-law. - [Château de La Chapelle-de-Bragny](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-la-chapelle-de-bragny) (6 km away): A fortified enclosure in the Glandon valley, with a Romanesque chapel and a wooden Virgin in Majesty. - [Abbaye de La Ferté](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/abbaye-de-la-ferte) (7 km away): The palace of the first daughter-house of Cîteaux, with 18th-century rooms, scientific collections and a landscaped park. ### Things to do - [Nicéphore Niépce’s House (Maison Nicéphore Niépce)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-nicephore-niepce), 11 km away: The country house near Chalon where Nicéphore Niépce made the oldest surviving camera photograph. - [Southern Burgundy Greenway (Voie Verte de Bourgogne du Sud)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/voie-verte-givry-cluny), 11 km away: A car-free cycle path on an old railway line, running from the Givry vineyards to Cluny. - [Saint-Martin Church, Chapaize (Église Saint-Martin de Chapaize)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/eglise-saint-martin-chapaize), 14 km away: An early Romanesque priory church whose tall Lombard bell tower rises over the countryside west of Tournus. ### Restaurants - [Cédric Burtin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/cedric-burtin-saint-remy) (11 km away · 2 MICHELIN stars): Two stars in a converted mill on the southern edge of Chalon-sur-Saône. ### Events - **Late August, over about six days; the 2026 festival ran from 25 to 30 August.** · [Musicales en Côte Chalonnaise](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/musicales-en-cote-chalonnaise): Chamber music in Romanesque churches around Buxy, each concert followed by a tasting with a local grower. (Music · Buxy) ## Questions about Château de Ponneau ### How far is Château de Ponneau from Beaune? Château de Ponneau is about 45 min from Beaune by road (50 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €155 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### Can you visit Château de Ponneau? Château de Ponneau 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 Ponneau? 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=driver&place=chateau:ponneau): €155 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - --- Canonical page: