Photo : Michal Osmenda from Brussels, Belgium / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Château de Cormatin
The Château de Cormatin is in Saône-et-Loire, between Tournus and Cluny, on an island of the Grosne. Antoine du Blé d'Uxelles, a military leader during the Wars of Religion and governor of Chalon appointed by Henry IV, had it built between 1606 and 1612. It comprises a main building and a perpendicular wing around a courtyard, with corner pavilions flanked by turrets.
The straight-flight staircase of the north wing is considered the oldest of its type preserved in France. The rooms have kept carved-wood fireplaces, painted ceilings and leather hangings, as well as paintings attributed to great painters. The 12-hectare park includes parterres, a box labyrinth with central pavilion recreated between 1990 and 1993 and trees from America. The castle, a private property, has been a listed historic monument since 1862 and 1903.
