Tour de l'Auditoire (The Court Tower)

1, rue du Parc

This tower, formerly part of the Chateau at Chateauvillain gets its name from the fact that one of its rooms was used, in Medieval times, for court hearings.    

Open every day from 14h to 18h in July and August and on European Heritage days.   Entrance free.

Guided visits available all year by appointment for groups.   

Contact : « La clef des champs » (local historical and cultural group) 03 25 32 15 41 or 06 88 56 67 94

 To be found at the  Tour de l'Auditoire:

-Salle Seigneuriale (the state room) :

The museum and its astonishing models (see above)

-Salle de l'Auditoire (court room) and  Salle des Gardes (Guard room)  :

These two rooms host temporary exhibitions and activities between 1st July and 31st August and on the European Heritage days and from time to time outside the summer season.    (Programme details here – with link)

Tourist Information is also available here (clarify which room…. As it’s not clear from the French).     

-Salle du Colombier   (The dovecote) :

Exhibits donated by Jean Rouot (see above)

Open every day from 14h to 18h in July and August and on European Heritage days.   Entrance free.

Guided visits available all year by appointment for groups.   

 To be found at the  Tour de l'Auditoire:

-Salle Seigneuriale (the state room) :

The museum and its astonishing models (see above)

-Salle de l'Auditoire (court room) and  Salle des Gardes (Guard room)  :

These two rooms host temporary exhibitions and activities between 1st July and 31st August and on the European Heritage days and from time to time outside the summer season.    (Programme details here – with link)

Tourist Information is also available on the ground floor.

-Salle du Colombier   (The dovecote) :

Exhibits donated by Jean Rouot (see above)

Open every day from 14h to 18h in July and August and on European Heritage days.   Entrance free.

Guided visits available all year by appointment for groups.   

La salle seigneuriale (The State Room)

Châteauvillain’s small museum  allows you, among other things, to discover a model representing the space formerly occupied in the heart of the town by the château.  Carried out according to an original plan signed by the architect  Ragot in 1865, this model helps visitors to better understand the all the stages in the construction of this imposing citadel which was built between the 12th and the 17th centuries.             

Visitors can also see parts of the Duke of Vitry’s tomb.   The Duke of Vitry was the former captain of Louis XIII’s guards who became Lord of Châteauvillain and visitors can also see parts of his tomb and of his wife,  Lucrèce Bouhier.    This marble tomb was more than 5 m high.   Three black marble columns, capped with a white marble  Ionic capital, are exhibited here along with two remarkable epitaphs . That of the Duke of Vitry is engraved.   A wooden model gives visitors an impression of how imposing this monument would have been.      The two models exhibited at the museul are the work of  Jacques Désormeau, who is also the co-author of several books on the history of Châteauvillain. 

Salle du Colombier (The Dovecote)

 The Jean Rouot Legacy

Jean Rouot (1917-2000), vet, mayor of Châteauvillain, representative of the local canton on the Haute-Marne Council, talented sculptor and painter, doubtless remains one of the most enduring personalities of the town.    Having been top of his year at the National Veterinary School, Maisons-Alfort,  he settled among the Châteauvillain crowds in rue Carnot. Twenty or so years later, he was elected Mayor of the town.  Jean Rouot he also represented the local canton as  ‘conseiller général’ from  1973 to 1979 and it was during his mandate, on 28th April 1974,  that the Haute-Marne monument to the Resistance, which he designed, was inaugurated.   This 2.5 metre-high statue is composed of granite from Perros-Guirec in Brittany.    It depicts a man with open arms lifted towards the sky, welcoming freedom and breaking the chains of oppression at his feet.    Four years earlier,  Jean Rouot, a talented sculptor had received the prestigious French Artists’ Prize in Paris for a sculpture depicting a bullfighting scene, a subject which he found a special inspiration.   One he retired, he devoted all his time to sculpture in his favourite material, olive wood.   Some months before his death in 2000, Jean Rouot , bequeathed his works to the community of Châteauvillain.