Château de Barante, Château in Dorat, France

Château de Barante is a long stone château in Dorat, with a dark hipped roof and a round tower capped by a tall conical roof at its right end. Its facade has arched ground-floor openings, rectangular middle-floor windows and dormer windows with balustrades set into the roof. The building stands behind a lawn and a low hedge.

The château was built in the 17th century on land bought in 1627 by the Brugière de Barante family. A fire led to its reconstruction in 1843. It belonged to Prosper de Barante, historian, writer and diplomat, prefect of Vendée, ambassador to Sardinia and to Saint Petersburg, and peer of France under Louis XVIII.

The château served as a meeting place for French intellectuals and thinkers who visited to engage with the owner. These connections shaped its reputation as a hub of intellectual exchange in the region.

The château stands in Dorat, near Thiers in the Puy-de-Dôme. It has been closed to visitors since 1914, when repeated burglaries ended public access, so the interior cannot be visited. The building and its park, about 100 hectares overlooking the valley, are seen from outside.

The château's library contained around 60,000 volumes, including the first edition of Blaise Pascal's Provinciales. This substantial collection reflects the intellectual importance the place held.