Château de Montmorin, Medieval fortress in Montmorin, France.

Château de Montmorin is a ruined fortress on a hill above Montmorin. Its entrance gatehouse, flanked by two round towers with rounded tops, dates to the 14th century, while the inner wall circuit goes back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The gate arch carries a carved stone shield, and a row of corbels runs beneath it. The walls are built of rough grey and brown blocks.

The castle was built in the 12th and 13th centuries as the seat of the Montmorin de Saint-Hérem family, one of the most powerful noble houses of Auvergne. The outer wall and the gatehouse with its two round towers were added in the 14th century, with further alterations in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1634 Cardinal Richelieu ordered the fortress destroyed because it was considered a centre of resistance to royal authority. The ruins have been listed as a monument historique since 31 December 1985.

The castle gave its name to the Montmorin de Saint-Hérem family, one of the most powerful noble houses of Auvergne. Four rooms of the guardhouse now form a museum: weapons from the 13th to 18th centuries, tools and objects of Auvergne folk traditions, a furnished bedroom, and archaeological material from excavations, notably a refuse dump.

The site is best explored on foot, allowing you to view the round towers and inner walls from different angles and distances. Plan enough time to examine the architectural details and appreciate how the structure relates to the surrounding landscape.

The walkway along the ramparts gives a view reaching from the Dôme mountains in the west to the Forez range in the east. The castle stands 3 km from Billom, beside the Livradois-Forez regional nature park, a position chosen to watch the surrounding country.