Milliassière Castle: A Historic Residence in Succieu, France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Medieval origins and ownership
Milliassière Castle is a historic residence on a hill in Succieu, France. It originated as a fortified house in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The oldest section is thought to date to around the second half of the fifteenth century and appears to stand on the foundations of an earlier fourteenth-century building, believed to have been Buffevent’s first fortified house.
The property passed between the Rabot and Buffevent families, both associated with the Parlement of Grenoble, a regional court of justice in pre-revolutionary France. It later came to the Bourg-Césarges family through marriage, and remained in that family’s hands until 1809.
Later alterations
The residence was altered in later centuries, including work in 1813. In the 1880s, a large earthen mound was leveled to open the view. The landscaping that followed made it possible to create a pond and a broad approach avenue. The north wing was enlarged in 1913, giving the château its present form.
Remains
The château stands on a hill in northern Succieu, between the village and the hamlet of Buffières. Its present layout comprises two buildings arranged in a T, set within landscaped grounds.
Residence
Older upper section
The older, upper arm of the residence has two turrets and two large circular corner towers. The towers retain machicolations, projecting openings in defensive walls or towers through which defenders could attack people below. In the seventeenth century, the building still had the character of a fortified house, with two towers set diagonally.
North wing and reused stone
The north wing forms the other part of the T-shaped plan. Its extension incorporates stones from Buffevent’s former fortified house. Those stones had been recovered from a ruined house in nearby Buffières, which had itself been built with material taken from an earlier building already in ruins.
Park and approach
The grounds include a landscaped park, a pond, and a broad approach avenue. An entrance grille is also part of the property.
