Château de Veauce is a medieval fortress on a rocky spur in the Allier département, Auvergne. The site has been occupied since the Gallo-Roman era - springs from that period are still visible in one of the castle cellars. The fortress is listed as a Monument Historique.
The castle was the summer residence of Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, in the ninth century. It underwent construction phases in the eleventh, thirteenth and late fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries, when the lordship of Veauce was established as a barony. Following the death of the Constable Charles III of Bourbon in 1527, the estate reverted to the Crown.
In the nineteenth century, Charles de Cadier de Veauce - politician and associate of the Duke of Morny - had the castle restored in a neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance style. The current stables, a riding school in a semi-circular section of the fortress and the park, designed by the Count of Choulot, all date from this period. The Duke of Morny was housed in the neo-Renaissance wing while his own Château de Nades was under construction.
The castle consists of four wings surrounding a curtain wall with fortification towers dating from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. The medieval wing, on three levels with several basement levels, retains fifteenth-century elements including fireplaces and mullioned windows. A circular staircase in a projecting tower serves the east wing, adjacent to the castle chapel. The basement contains the medieval kitchens, a series of cellars and a cistern of Gallo-Roman origin. The nineteenth-century neo-Renaissance wing is identical in layout to the medieval wing. Two further wings, partly collapsed, comprise outbuildings, garages and stables. Battlements and a clock tower were added in the nineteenth century.
The 8.3-hectare park contains notable trees. The river Veauce runs through the estate. Several abandoned structures remain on the grounds: a mill, a metal greenhouse and various outbuildings.
The property is currently subject to an official state work order requiring emergency stabilisation works.
Vichy station is 40 km away, with connections to Paris (3h20) and Lyon (2h). All shops within 10 minutes by car.
Price: 800,000 € including agency fees, payable by the seller.
