Château de La Palice

Lapalisse

A house still lived in, where the unintended humour of a misread epitaph has come down through the centuries into the French language itself.

Built on a promontory at the top of a hill overlooking the valley of the Besbre, this château combines a keep and medieval curtain walls of the 11th–12th centuries with a Renaissance wing raised around 1520 by Marshal Jacques II de Chabannes, lord of La Palice and companion-in-arms of Francis I. Here one admires a Flamboyant Gothic chapel dedicated to Saint Léger, as well as Italian salons with painted coffered ceilings brought back from the Italian campaigns. The marshal died at the Battle of Pavia in 1525; it was his epitaph, misread by his soldiers, that gave birth to the word "lapalissade". The château still belongs to the family's descendants, who open it to visitors.

Getting there : Listed as a monument historique in 1862, delisted in 1888 and then registered on the supplementary inventory in 1928; still owned by the family's descendants, open to visitors in season. Approximate coordinates (centre of Lapalisse).

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

Ambient sound