Château d'Andelot, Gothic castle in Andelot-Morval, France.
Château d'Andelot is a former seigneurial residence built in the 12th century in Andelot-Morval. Of the medieval fortress, only the keep and the 14th-century third entrance gate remain, the latter flanked by two round towers with conical brown roofs and an arched wooden doorway. A rectangular building with a steep hipped roof adjoins the complex.
The castle was built as a medieval fortress but suffered severe damage during the French Revolution when villagers set fires in 1789. This attack destroyed the feudal archives stored within its walls.
The name Andelot comes from the Coligny family title: Barbe de Coligny was marquise d'Andelot, and the castle passed to Gilbert V de Langheac through their marriage in the 1660s. Until 1789 villagers owed servitude duties to the castle, and during the Great Fear they burned their charters of servitude together with the seigneurial archives in the fire that destroyed the fortress.
Only the keep and the 14th-century third entrance survive, listed as monuments historiques since 1926; the rest of the fortress is gone, so visitors should not expect three intact enclosures. The site stands in Andelot-Morval in the Jura department, and the surviving structures are private property held by the descendants of the Guyénard family.
In 1938 the castle hosted the Duke of Windsor and several ambassadors, including the Japanese ambassador, for a diplomatic affair. At the end of the Second World War it sheltered Allied troops who came to liberate the region. The keep and the 14th-century third gate are all that remain of the fortress, listed as monuments historiques since 1926.
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