The castle of Condrieu is located in the eponymous town of Condrieu, in the Rhône department, 13 km south-west of Vienne.
This is a fortified castle built during the 12th century, located on the right bank of the Rhône, on a rock surrounded by a stream.
The building, now in the state of vestiges, had a real strategic vocation in the Middle Ages, since it was possible from the site to monitor the traffic on the river and the valley upstream and downstream.
Thus it was first the Counts of Forez and the Church of Lyon who disputed the ownership of Condrieu: the bishops won their case and built the fortress between 1193 and 1226. Yet the conflicts continued, and in 1330, this time it was the troops of the lords of Vienne who took the castle and destroyed it against the soldiers of the bishop of Lyon.
This war ended in 1382 only. Raised, the castle is then the property of the lords of Chapuis, then passes to the lords of Jarez and finally to the family of Villars. In modern times, other noble owners succeeded one another, but the building only had a residential vocation.
Nowadays, the castle is still a private property but there remains only a circular keep (also called the Garon tower) which served as a prison, elements of the enclosure and the barnyard.
This testimony to a turbulent past can punctuate a walk in the village which has since become a stronghold of viticulture in the Rhône Valley. Information on +33 4 74 56 62 83 or +33 4 74 59 50 38.
