The Château de Sully, situated between

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

and

Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and a major ...

(

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

), is the largest of the Renaissance

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

x of southern

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

. Paired outbuildings of a more vernacular character face each other across a grassed forecourt, while to the rear is the vegetable garden, fenced by fruit trees. The château is approached by an axial stone bridge across its

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. The façades express the traditionally defensive character of the ''rez-de-chaussée'', the ground floor, and the richer, more open aspect of the ''

piano nobile ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...

'', articulated by pilasters. Under the central pediment that breaks the line of a traditional sloping slate roof, the arched portal is scaled to admit riders and carriages. Four similarly treated ranges, flanked by matching angled corner towers with pyramidal roofs and surrounded by the moat, enclose a Renaissance courtyard built for the Maréchal de Saulx-Tavanes, confidant of

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

. The splendor of the interior courtyard shows that this château, though symmetrical and regular, still looks inwards. A rusticated ground floor with arch-headed windows supports a main floor where paired

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

-defined bays that alternate between windows and coved niches. The historic chateau of the

MacMahon family The MacMahon family originated in Ireland and later established itself in France, where it gained prominence. In the context of French nobility, the head of the family holds the titles of ''Duc de Magenta'' and ''Marquis de MacMahon''. Histor ...

, from the marriage of the heiress Charlotte de Morey, with Jean-Baptiste de MacMahon, Sully was the birthplace of the monarchist Field Marshal,

Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893), was a French general and politician who served as President of France from 1873 to 1879. He was elevated to the dignity of Marshal ...

, who was President of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

from 1873 to 1879. Charles-Marie and Marthe de Vogüé, Marquise de Mac Mahon, restored some of the château during their ownership of the property. The Château de Sully remains the home of the present duchesse de Magenta and her family. The château of Henri IV's minister, Maximilien de Béthune and the ducs de Sully, is the Château de Sully-sur-Loire.

Gallery

File:Chateau de Sully 01.jpg, Courtyard alley with Common buildings on either side File:Chateau de Sully 06.jpg, Closeup of the Neo-Renaissance facade of the castle File:Chateau de Sully 15.jpg, The west facade and the bridge of Pierre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau de Sully Sully, Chateau de