Château de Grignan

Grignan

Built from the 10th century on a rocky spur, the castrum passed before 1239 into the hands of the Adhémar, who made it a barony at the end of the 13th century. Between 1478 and 1556, the successive lords — including Louis Adhémar and then the counts of Grignan under François I — transformed the fortress into a Renaissance residence, completing a 52 m facade adorned with fourteen bays of columns. In 1669, François Adhémar de Monteil married Françoise-Marguerite, daughter of Madame de Sévigné: the marquise stayed here three times between 1671 and 1696 and died here on 17 April 1696, leaving a correspondence that has become a monument of French literature; local tradition places her heart beneath the choir of the collegiate church. Sold in 1699, the château was partly demolished on revolutionary orders in January 1794, two thirds of the great facade disappearing in a fortnight. Marie Fontaine undertook its methodical reconstruction from 1913 to 1931, before it was ceded to the département of the Drôme in 1962. Since 1987, theatrical night festivals have gathered tens of thousands of spectators each summer in the main courtyard.

Getting there : Village listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France (Most Beautiful Villages of France), 25 min by road from Montélimar (D541); departmental château-museum open all year, ticket office on site

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

Ambient sound