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BRANCION CASTLE
Medieval Chateau in South Burgundy

Most all the chateaux to be found in the Burgundy region between the Soane and the Loire Rivers are manor houses for the grand ages of the 16th-18th centuries. Houses of gilt and gold, the age of perfume and the guillotine. Many of them replaced earlier medieval fortresses, now gone to the past. The Castle ruins of Brancion less than 20 minutes from Tournus along the Burgundy wine and castle road is one of the few remaining examples of a medieval French military fortress castle from the middle ages in the wine region of Bourgogne.

The Chateau Brancion castle has been in existence since the tenth century, the stronghold of the Garoux family, perched strategically on a mountain top with a commanding view of the surrounding valley now covered with grape vineyards. The first occupants of the castle died out during the Crusades (see Hugues de Payens Museum) and the fortress has passed through a number of hands over the centuries, with further fortification and living improvements. Burgundy was independent from the King of France in the 15th Century, but in a near constant state of war. The King eventually reclaimed the duchy of Brancion in 1477. The castle was burned in the religious wars of the 16th Century.

The castle has well preserved walls and surviving turrets overlooking the forested hillsides from where its commanding view of the landscape remains undisturbed, viewed through the narrow archer loop-hole slits in its battlements, a stables and a former prison dungeon and later era ducal lodging with standing room fireplace hearths and lead paned windows. A beautiful small church also occupies the ancient medieval town which surrounds the walled fortress and still thrives as the living village of Brancion. The drive up the hill to the castle visible from a distance leads to a parking lot and a short walk through the stone gates which can be crossed from above as the castle former defenders might if attacked, though the castle now is mostly assaulted by armies of school children from regular local field trips organized to visit the historic grounds. The castle grounds are popular for picnics with a basket of cheese and some local wine as a stop on touring Burduny wine country. Brancion is a short few kilometers from the curious bicycle museum of Burgundy (see Velo Museum) and the Chateau of Cormatin (see Chateau de Cormatin). © Bargain Travel Europe

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See Also:

CHÂTEAU DE CHÂTEAUNEUF-EN-AUXOIS
Romance Castles of Burgundy Wine Region

ABBEY CLUNY
Benedictine Monastery Ruins in South Bugundy

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