Château de Sainte-Croix, 17th century castle in Sainte-Croix, France.
Château de Sainte-Croix is a 17th-century castle featuring a classical design with a two-level main building, side pavilions, and a tiled roof topped with shell-decorated dormers. The property covers 190 hectares of land with woods and agricultural areas, along with multiple period outbuildings, a monumental gate opening to an honor court, and substantial original stables.
The Laulanié de Sainte-Croix family built the castle in the late 17th century while managing the forges de la Mouline along the Couze River. The property also contains a 14th-century presbytery, indicating human settlement and religious activity in the area long before the castle was constructed.
The main hall once featured tapestries from Aubusson showing scenes from La Fontaine's fables, which reflect the refined taste of its original residents. These decorative works were eventually moved to the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris, where they remain today.
The castle is privately owned but can be viewed from the outside, with the expansive grounds offering a sense of the classic French country estate layout. The best views of the building and its architectural features can be appreciated from the public areas near the honor court and monumental gate.
The property houses a medieval presbytery dating to the 14th century, a rare survival from an era predating the castle itself by centuries. This ancient structure adds layers of time to the site, where religious and secular architecture coexist across different periods.
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