Chateau of Sully
Location: 40km northwest from the cottages, 15km from Autun.
Nearby: Couches, Autun, Bibracte, the Morvan.
Why we like this place:
- a guided tour with variety and accessible to all,
- the many activities offered to children (see the chateau site),
- their reliable website that is updated regularly,
- the diversity of the visit: the different architectural styles of the castle, the park, the vegetable garden, the moats, the outbuildings, ....
- the well-stocked shop with local products,
- the road from our cottages which, after Couches, explores remote and unspoilt rural countryside
A little history: The origin of the chateau dates from the twelfth century and the construction of a fortified chateau by Gauthier de Sully. Of this building there remains one of the eight corner towers as well as foundations that provided the base for newer construction. The transformations through the ages can be found on each wing of the chateau: the north wing dates from the eighteenth century, the west wing (and the bridge) from the sixteenth century, the wing oriented to the south from the nineteenth century.
In the mid-nineteenth century the Mac Mahon family (the title of Duke of Magenta was conferred on Patrice de Mac Mahon by Napoleon III after his victory in 1859 in Magenta), acquired the castle and they still own it today. The Duchess of Magenta lives there with her two children. A part of the maintenance of the chateau is financed courtesy of the income from the family wine business.
