Castle of Rully

Location: 6km from the cottages.

Nearby: the village of Rully, Mercurey and the Valley des Vaux, village of Fontaines (with its 'lavoirs'), the caves of Agneux

Why we love this place:

• this chateau, whose keep dates from the XIIth century, is easily accessible from the cottages, notably by a small road through the valley at the foot of the village of Aluze. This offers a breathtaking and timeless view of the chateau,
• the visit, led by the owners, which is rich in anecdotes about the chateau (unfortunately the castle is unoften opened, mainly in summer),
• the outer buildings whose roofs are covered in 'lauzes'. The lauzes, or stone plates, are usually extracted from quarries called 'lauzières' ('lavières' in Burgundy). The stones are very heavy weighing about 800kg per m2.
• the pleasant walk around and through the village of Rully. There are signs to the walk near the Chateau and the walk provides superb views over the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise and the plain of the Saône.
• the walk that leads to the Agneux caves and follows a loop around Rully taking one and a half hours.

A little history: The chateau has belonged to the same family since the XII century. Through marriage, the name changed 4 times. Marie-Argante, the chatelaine at the time of the Revolution, was taken to Chalon by the 'sans-culottes', the revolutionaries. As she was very popular with the villagers of Rully, she was supported by them and they did not hesitate to occupy the chateau in order to obtain her freedom and prevent the looting and destruction of the chateau. With the continued support of the population, the chatelaine was released and the chateau preserved.
X. Maglott