Château de Joviac

The village of Rochemaure is situated on the banks of the Rhône, at the foot of the Coiron plateau. The castle is at the end of a dirt road that cuts through large cereal fields, on the right of national road 86 in the direction of Le Teil.

High walls and a beautiful gate enclose the main courtyard which precedes the castle. It is an imposing building composed of two floors with identical openings and attics with circular orifices like those of the old silkworm farms of the region. The edifice is flanked by two circular towers on the main facade, and a large square tower, an old keep, formerly isolated by a moat. The interior ground floor includes a kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom heated by the kitchen fireplace. The rear is occupied by the pantry and a large cellar. On the first floor are the bedrooms and a beautiful reception room. The second floor was reserved for servants.

Vast outbuildings, including a large U-shaped complex consisting on the west of an old silk reeling room surmounted by a silkworm farm. The eastern part also includes an old silkworm farm on the upper floor, and on the ground floor, was the "house of the poor" where the masters of the premises distributed food, probably until the Revolution. Further on, a 19th-century gate encloses a park containing oaks and plane trees, some dating from the 18th century. The estate also includes a chapel installed by the first owners partly in one of the old defense towers; an orangery surmounted by a formerly defensive tower, which also served as a dovecote; two large landscaped terraces: vegetable garden, medicinal plant gardens, garden, orchard, beehives; a stable; a bread oven; a fishpond...

The building was listed as a historical monument in 1971 and 1990, and classified in 2001.

Daniel Bouix, « Jacques Ier de Joviac, disciple d’Olivier de Serres ? The agricultural estate and the hydraulic system of Joviac: in a notebook dedicated to Ardèche scientists and engineers », Cahier de Mémoire d'Ardèche et Temps Présent, no 95,‎ August 15, 2007 Françoise Conac, « The gardens of Joviac: in a notebook dedicated to Gardens in Ardèche... landscaped spaces witnessing their time », Cahier de Mémoire d'Ardèche et Temps Présent, no 108,‎ November 15, 2010 Françoise Conac, « Joviac, a large estate, a hydraulic system, a castle late 16th century - early 17th century, the rationality of choices: in a notebook dedicated to castles and large estates in Ardèche, from the Renaissance to the present day (proceedings of a conference in 2014 in Annonay-Davézieux) », Cahier de Mémoire d'Ardèche et Temps Présent, no 126,‎ May 15, 2015

Rochemaure List of castles in Ardèche List of historical monuments in Ardèche

Association les amis de Joviac

Resource related to architecture: Mérimée

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