Hattonchâtel, l'éperon de l'évêque Hatton

Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel

Around 860, Hatton, bishop of Verdun, fortified this spur of the Côtes de Meuse that would take his name: Hattonchâtel. A favourite residence of his successors, who minted coins there, the place became the seat of an episcopal marquisate; a collegiate church replaced the castle chapel in 1328, and a walled town prospered in the shadow of the castle, until it was ceded to Duke Charles III of Lorraine in 1546. The Thirty Years' War ruined the fortress, dismantled on the orders of Richelieu after 1636. Then an American fairy godmother stepped in: Belle Skinner (1866–1928), a wealthy heiress from Massachusetts who had fallen in love with the place, devoted nearly a million dollars to its resurrection — a château rebuilt from 1923 to 1928 in a romantic neo-Gothic style, church and cloister restored, wash-house, town hall and school, and even running water, a rare luxury in the Meuse countryside at the time. The collegiate church of Saint-Maur keeps a jewel: a polychrome stone altarpiece dated 1523, with three scenes of the Passion, attributed to the young Ligier Richier or to his workshop. From the top of the ramparts, the eye takes in the Woëvre and the Lac de Madine, in one of the most beautiful hilltop villages of Lorraine.

Getting there : Car park at the entrance to the village (coordinates given for this point); collegiate church, cloister and château can be visited on foot in a few minutes; the château, now a hotel, can only be seen from the outside

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound