Château de Frontenay, Medieval fortress in Frontenay, France
This 12th-century fortified structure features a 14th-century donjon with defensive towers, stone walls, and underground vestiges that reveal its medieval military architecture and successive construction phases.
Built in 1132 by Frédéric, son of a Count of Burgundy, the castle served as a strategic defense point along the salt route to Salins and was captured by French troops during the Ten Years' War in 1637.
In 1410, the castle welcomed Saint Colette who founded the first Reformed Poor Clares community here, and since 2007 it has hosted an annual jazz festival each August that draws music enthusiasts to its historic grounds.
The castle offers guided tours from May to October by reservation, hosts events and seminars for up to 150 people, and allows free exterior visits from Easter to All Saints' Day during summer months.
The property has remained in the same family, the Fallerans, for over 600 years since 1446 when Louis II de Chalon-Arlay entrusted it to Gauthier de Fallerans as a reward for his services.
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