Photo : Torsade de Pointes / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Château de Rochebaron
The ruins of the Château de Rochebaron stand on a rocky spur at Bas-en-Basset, in Haute-Loire, about a kilometre and a half north-west of the town, above the Loire gorges. The fortress occupied a strategic position on the borders of the Velay and the Forez. Mentioned as early as 1173 in a priory cartulary, it belonged to the Rochebaron family, of which Pons is the first known lord in 1163.
The castle was largely rebuilt at the start of the fifteenth century by Érail II, a lord in the service of the Duke of Burgundy: a square main tower existed in 1402 and a second, round tower was raised before 1419. From the fourteenth century, its feudal dependence was shared between the Count of Forez and the count-bishop of Le Puy, a source of many conflicts. It was already described in ruins in 1743, and after the Revolution it served as a quarry for materials until the mid-nineteenth century.
Listed as a historic monument in 1951, it has been maintained since 1972 by an association of volunteers. Two large towers remain, one round and the other triangular, the façade of the chapel and the entrance gatehouse.
