Château de Vaire

About

The castle of Vaire is a classic 18th century castle built in 1713 in the Doubs valley in Vaire in Franche-Comté 13 km northeast of Besançon. The castle and the French garden, protected as historical monuments, have been remarkably restored and are open to tourism during the summer since 1992.

History: In the Gallo-Roman era a castrum crowns the rocky hill that dominates the Doubs valley, where the present castle is built. A castle was built in the 11th century by the lord Gauthier de Vaire, vassal of the County of Burgundy. Following the death of the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Temerary in 1477, King Louis XI annexed the duchy of Burgundy to this powerful independent enemy and totally destroyed the castles that resisted him, including this one. In 1703, Gabriel Boisot, Attorney General of the Parliament of Besançon, eye and arm of Louis XIV (son of Claude Boisot, intendant of the fortifications of Franche-Comté who helped Louis XIV to conquer the County of Burgundy then vassal of the Habsburg kings of Spain) later occupied the office of first president in the Parliament of Besançon and obtained from the king the right to buy...