Chateau de la Roche

Perched atop its rocky outcrop since the 13th century, the Château de la Roche transforms, depending on the river's mood, from a defensive stronghold to a romantic island. Its improbable location on the Loire makes it an iconic site in the department. Perched high above the river, the Château has sheltered numerous families who have used it as a lookout post, a feudal toll point, or a summer residence. Defying time and the river's unpredictable nature, it is now surrounded by water since the construction of the Villerest Dam in 1982, thus becoming a charming, romantic island. The fortified house that forms the core of the current Château was built between 1256 and 1291 by humble vassals, the first line of the Lords of La Roche, vassals of the Count of Forez. At that time, thick walls surrounded the rock, which was completely separated from the mainland. Until the 14th century, their heirs enjoyed a significant fiefdom, both in terms of its size and its assets (mill, fishing rights on the Loire, vineyards, etc.). From the 15th century onward, La Roche reverted to the De Vernoilles family. The landholdings gradually diminished. In 1707, the descendants left behind a very dilapidated and uninhabitable castle, due to a lack of resources and maintenance. Two centuries later, the castle's appearance was completely transformed by the construction of a massive granite dike, replacing the drawbridge that had connected the castle to the right bank. The Loire had been made navigable by clearing its bed of numerous rocks. However, following the violent floods that subsequently occurred, it became necessary to mitigate the force of the waters in the Gorges with the La Roche and Pinay dikes. In 1755, La Roche became the property of the La Rivollière family, who added a wing in the classical style. It was sold thirty years later to a bourgeois family, the Bouvets, who experienced the historic flood of 1790 there, which reached the first floor of the main building and caused serious damage. During the 19th century, La Roche passed through several families before being purchased in 1900 by a wealthy industrialist from Roanne, Mr. Paul Roustan, who restored it in the Gothic style, as it appears today. In the 1930s, the Loire dam project resurfaced. Several hundred hectares of land were purchased by the City of Paris, and the occupants of the château were expropriated. EDF took over the project and acquired it in 1965. From that moment on, the château, completely abandoned, deteriorated and fell victim to several acts of looting and flooding. Destined for destruction with the construction of the dam, the Château was saved by the mobilization of local residents, represented by the Syndicat des Communes Riveraines au barrage de Villerest (Union of Riverside Municipalities at the Villerest Dam). In 1993, it became the property of the Commune of Saint-Priest-la-Roche for the symbolic price of one franc and was taken over by an association, "Les Amis du Château de la Roche" (Friends of the Château de la Roche), which renovated it and opened it to guided tours in 1996.