Château de Vogüé

The castle, located at the foot of a limestone cliff and on the banks of the Ardèche river, overlooks the village of Vogüé, classified among The Most Beautiful Villages of France, in the French department of Ardèche.

The lords of Vogüé, as early as 1084, occupied the site and drew comfortable revenues from the river toll, enough to build a solid square-plan fortress. The castle is believed to have been built at the end of the 12th century on the order of Raymond I de Vogüé. In the 14th century, it became the property of the de La Gorce family, and in the 15th century, it was rebuilt by the Rochemure du Besset, who added four towers. In 1603, Marquis Melchior I, Grand Bailiff of Vivarais, repurchased the castle, which he redeveloped in the Renaissance style. At this time, the hanging garden above the filled-in moats was notably created. In the 17th century, it was abandoned after Charles de Vogüé moved to the Château d'Aubenas. The castle was burned and plundered during the French Revolution, and sold as national property. It was repurchased half a century later, in 1839, by the Marquis de Vogüé, Léonce de Vogüé, who restored it and established a school there run by the Sisters of Saint-Joseph d'Aubenas. The establishment closed in 1960. Since 1971, the castle has hosted temporary exhibitions open to all disciplines (painting, engraving, sculpture, photography, ceramics, glass, etc.) and the collection of the engraver Jean Chièze (1898–1975).

The Château de Vogüé, dating from the 15th century, takes the form of a vast quadrangular building flanked by four large round towers and retains the base of a 12th-century tower.