Castle of Villars

In the Middle Ages, Villars, a fortified town, was limited to six towers connected by an enclosure wall. Henriette de Clèves' " permit to rebuild and rebuild chastel and fortified house " leads to dating the construction of the low wings at the beginning of the 17th century.

At the end of the 18th century, the descendants of Pierre Dufour built the New Castle, to settle in a comfortable "Italian-style pavilion ".

In the 19th century, three exceptional brothers were born in Villars: Henry, Roger, and Charles de Bouillé.

Charles de Bouillé (1816-1889) was a pioneer in the selection of the Charolais cattle breed, on his farm in Villars. This farm is none other than the medieval castle, thus saved from the ruin to which predisposed the move to the New Castle.

A whole body of building is arranged in vaulted stables in order to be able to accommodate the attached cattle. Openings are made in the attics to store grains and fodder from the field.

In 1864, Charles founded the Herd-Book of the Charolaise Race. Deputy of Nièvre, he was the propellant in 1871 of the "Free Meeting of Farmers of the National Assembly", which worked for an autonomous Ministry dedicated to Agriculture.

It is this coexistence of the history of a military Middle Ages and of a nineteenth agricultural century which gives the site its unique character.

Château de Villars owes its inscription to Historic Monuments to the role played by the estate in the 19th century in regional and national agriculture: creation and selection of the Charolais cattle breed, importation of the southdown sheep breed and selection of the Nivernais horse.