Commanderie d'Épailly

Courban

In the Châtillonnais, on the borders of Burgundy and Champagne, the commandery of Épailly is attested from 1200 as a house of the Order of the Temple. Laid out around a lower courtyard housing the farm buildings and an upper courtyard reserved for the prior's lodging, the chapel and the defensive structures, it was surrounded by water-filled moats, a sign of its strategic importance on the roads linking Champagne and Burgundy. After the dissolution of the Order in 1312, the estate passed to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, who made it the residence of the Prior of Champagne and fortified it in 1360 in the face of the insecurity of the Hundred Years' War. The site today preserves an exceptional heritage for a rural commandery: two chapels dedicated to Saint George and Saint John, a watchtower, a vaulted cellar, a medieval barn, a dovecote and period latrines, before the prior's lodging was converted into a dwelling in the 19th century. Privately owned ever since, Épailly today hosts lectures, conferences and cultural events, making this vast fortified quadrangle a living place where Templar and then Hospitaller architecture can still be read in the stone.

Getting there : RD102, 21520 Courban, in the Châtillonnais, about 20 km north of Châtillon-sur-Seine

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

Ambient sound