Watercolor by Frank Boggs (1855-1926)

A six kilomètres au nord ouest de Saint-Flour se dresse bâti sur un promontoire basaltique et taillé à pic: le Château de Saillans; l’étroite bande de terrain contrefort extrême du vaste plateau de la Planèze le rend seul accessible du côté nord. Non loin du château se trouve la cascade du même nom.

Château du Sailhant is a thousand year old château-fort located in the mountainous Auvergne region of central France. It stands on a dramatic triangular volcanic spur with one hundred-foot perpendicular cliffs on three sides overlooking a mystical sixty-foot waterfall that drops into a crater-lake formed from a prehistoric volcano. Accessible only on one moated side, the site has been occupied from the most remote of times.

The walls of the château and its seven towers are constructed of ancient gray lava blocks and the roofs are stone slabs. The spur upon which the stone donjon sits was initially used by pre-historic people as an open place of refuge, followed by a wood tower and then the stone tower.

View from the North, 1890s

The château continued to evolve under the d’Aurouze, d’Estaing and Jean de Lastic and other prominent French families. In the early medieval period it was a contested stronghold. During the Hundred Years’ War, it was in a continuous tug-of-war between the French and the English resulting in numerous sieges and increased fortifications. During the Renaissance, the château was enhanced with classical details while made even more defensible. In the early eighteenth century, it became a distinguished summer residence for Joachim-Joseph d’Estaing, the bishop of Saint-Flour and, after the Revolution was used as a farm house/barn.

In the late nineteenth century a major renovation was commenced, but not completed, by an entrepreneur born in the tiny village at the base of the château. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was used as a summer residence by a Parisian doctor whose family originated from the region and in the late twentieth century it was acquired by the present owner, an American architect, who performed a twenty-year conservation effort in conjunction with French professionals and Auvergnat conservators & artisans.

With its rugged, mysterious beauty perched on a remote volcanic promontory, Château du Sailhant speaks of ancient times and the remote Auvergne region. 

“If you’re on a quest trying to go back in time, you’re not always successful. It’s essentially like time travel, and if you do find the answer to your quest, it is a little miraculous.”  — Joseph Pell Lombardi, Architectural Digest (Link)