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Château de Saint-Saturnin
The Château de Saint-Saturnin stands in the heart of one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, about twenty kilometres south of Clermont-Ferrand, in the Puy-de-Dôme. Built in the 13th century by the La Tour d'Auvergne family as a defensive stronghold, it became a residence of the Counts of Auvergne and was embellished up to the 15th and 16th centuries. Catherine de' Medici owned it in the 16th century. It has been a listed historic monument since 1889.
Its architecture includes a triple curtain wall, a keep, crenellated and machicolated towers and a wall walk, and a French formal garden surrounds it.
The guided tour traces the castle's past through the figures who marked it and includes the reception hall with its large fireplace, the tiled first-floor room and the attic with its upturned-hull roof frame. A private property, the château also offers accommodation; visits are mainly in summer, with weekend openings in spring and group visits all year.
