Castle of Ventadour

The castle stands at 373 m above sea level, on a hill located at the end of the ridge separating the Ardèche and Fontaulière valley, at the lit-dit le Rolandy. Thus placed, dominating the confluence of these two rivers by 80 m, it occupied a strategic position of prime importance by controlling one of the large passages between the Rhône valley and Le Puy by the Montpezat road and the Col du Pal. This suggests that before medieval constructions existed Roman fortifications with wooden palisades on the rocky base (Julius Caesar going to Alésia, in 52 BC, stayed in Montpezat with his Roman legions).

HISTORICAL
The castle was built around the 12th century, the fief of Meyras (village located 2 km west of the castle) belonging to the Solignacs, then to the Montlaurs who entrusted it to vassals: the Jaujac from 1195 to 1262, the Roche in Régnier from 1262 to 1344, then the Lévis Lautrec from 1344 to 1490 and the Lévis Ventadour (coming from Corrèze, near Egletons, whose castle is currently in ruins) from 1490 to 1663. Little is known of the history of the castle at that time. During the Hundred Years War, the Vivarais was traversed by bands of looters, the "truckers", throughout the late fourteenth century. It is likely that the local populations then found refuge at the castle without it being attacked.
Jacqueline du Mas (1480-1566), wife of Gilbert 1er, Count of Ventadour, is undoubtedly the last lady to have lived there semi-permanently. Then, the castle is entrusted to regents who are content to guard it and to keep it summary.
From 1670, many troubles will take place in Vivarais and Cévennes, especially after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes suppressing Protestantism (1685). However, the castle of Meyras, practically abandoned, presents a significant risk: that of falling into the hands of an armed band which from there could ravage the country. It was then dismantled around 1700.
After the revolution, the ruins of the castle were divided into lots and sold as "national property". It then served as a stone quarry, but having as access road only difficult mule tracks, that slowed down the demolishers. The castle of Meyras took the name of its owners, the Ventadour, by toponymy, in 1842. In 1846, Sosthène de Chanaleilles bought all the plots, reunified the area and had the ruins consolidated. Later, the castle passed by inheritance to Marcieu who resold all the cultivable land of the domain, keeping only the ruins, including the two dovecotes and the chapel. It was listed as a Historic Monument on May 4, 1937.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
It was mainly between the 12th and 14th centuries, when it was still permanently inhabited, that the castle acquired its final structure. A first enclosure, including the Romanesque chapel, completely surrounds the castle.
This first enclosure, abandoned from the 16th century, is followed by a second enclosure, which protects the south face of the castle. Of modest dimensions, it shelters the seigniorial garden and the house of the porter. Defended by a knock-down door, it leads to a second door which gives access to the upper courtyard, originally defended by a drawbridge later replaced by a staircase. It is around this courtyard that the buildings of the castle proper are arranged.
On the western front, facing the hill, there are three towers connected by curtain walls reaching a height of ten meters: on the left the Reloge tower, raised in the 14th / 15th century, flanked by two watch towers, one of which is destroyed and is being returned, against which the kitchen building leans; then the Tournelle, or keep, rectangular building flanked perpendicularly from the seigniorial building, and forming with it the primitive castral complex. Under the stately building, a vaulted passage leads to a small courtyard where the cistern is located. Finally, to the north, rises the Tower of the lower house where the governor of the castle resides; a building called Expense Member immediately adjoins it.