ANDELAT, FRANCE

Located in the heart of the Auvergne volcanoes, the 1000-year-old Chateau du Sailhant towers over a spectacular rocky outcrop, overlooking a mystical waterfall.

Chateau du Sailhant, "Site Remarquable de France"

ANDELAT, FRANCE

Located in the heart of the Auvergne volcanoes, the 1000-year-old Chateau du Sailhant towers over a spectacular rocky outcrop, overlooking a mystical waterfall.

Chateau du Sailhant, "Site Remarquable de France"

Sailhant is open to visitors from April 1 to September 30, and for the All Saints’ Day school holidays in October. [ Hours ]  <

TOURS

Now restored and fully furnished, Château du Sailhant offers an historic tour through the garden/court, entry hall, dining room, salon, great hall, bedrooms, library, kitchen and chapel. Visits from April 1 to October 31.

Due to the limited number of guest per tour, reservations are not required but are strongly encouraged

Hours
1st April to 31 May: 2pm-6pm: closed Monday and Tuesday
June: 10 am-12am: 2pm-6pm: closed Monday and Tuesday
July-August: open every day: 10am-12pm & 2pm-6pm
1st September to 30th September: 10am-12pm & 2pm-6pm. Closed on Monday
Fall Vacation: Every day 2pm-6pm.
Guided tours only (50 minutes ):
Low season: Guided tours at the top of every hour
July/August: Guided tours every 30 minutes in the afternoons, every hours during the weekends.
Rest of the year : tours possible only with reservations for groups and individuals.

For further booking information, please telephone
(06 31 51 79 43 or 04 71 60 98 00), or
email, at ChateauduSailhant@gmail.com

Château du Sailhant
Lieu dit Le Sailhant
15100 Andelat

Admissions Pricing
Adults: €15,50
Adult/Group (Maximum 15): €13
Persons with reduced mobility: €9,50
Children 6-17: €9,50
Children under 6: Free
Students 18-27: €11

Spoken Languages
English and French

Payment:
Cash / Credit card

Bus parking available in front of the château

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAILHANT

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

watercolor

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)

LARGER HISTORY

“I looked for years for a project in western Europe that would utilize my professional background and could be used as a summer retreat. My criteria was that it had to be of an architectural period unavailable in America, have an unstudied architectural history, and be in need of conservation, in a remote location and affordable. I had studied in depth European architecture during my education and had worked for clients on projects in Italy, France and Hungary. But, I itched to tackle a project in Europe for myself.”    — Joseph Pell Lombardi, Owner

Here you will find extensive histories of Château du Sailhant which have been compiled and presented by its present owner, Joseph Pell Lombardi, a Preservation Architect. (Ref. JosephPellLombardi.com)

PRESS

A rose may be a rose may be a rose, but there are castles and there are castles.    — Architectural Digest, 2010

CONTACT

Hours
1st April to 31 May: 2pm-6pm: closed Monday and Tuesday
June: 10 am-12am: 2pm-6pm: closed Monday and Tuesday
July- August: open every day: 10am-12pm & 2pm-6pm
1st September to 30th September: 10am-12pm & 2pm-6pm. Closed on Monday
Fall Vacation: Every day 2pm-6pm.
Guided tours only (50 minutes ):
Low season: Guided tours at the top of every hour
July / August: Guided tours every 30 minutes in the afternoons, every hour during weekends.
Rest of the year: tours possible only with reservations for groups and individuals.

Due to the limited number of guest per tour, reservations are not required but are strongly encouraged.

To buy your tickets, go directly to the reception of the castle or online here.

Château du Sailhant
Lieu dit Le Sailhant
15100 Andelat

Admissions Pricing
Adulte: €15,50
Groupe : (A partir de 15 adultes): €13
Personnes à mobilité réduite: €9,50
Enfants 6-17 ans: €9,50
Enfant – de 6 ans : Gratuit
Estudiants 18-27: €11

Spoken Languages
English and French

Payment:
Cash / Credit cards

Bus parking available in front of the château

THE BEAUTY OF CHÂTEAU DU SAILHANT

“Slowly, but with the greatest of excitement, the 500,000 piece, one-thousand-year-old jigsaw puzzle was coming together.”

— Joseph Pell Lombardi

Tel. 06 31 51 79 43 / 04 71 60 98 00
ChateauduSailhant@gmail.com

2018 © Joseph Pell Lombardi  |  All rights reserved

Site Design  |  Alter Ego

Réservez Maintenant Réservez Maintenant Skip to content