The Mount St John
Since time immemorial, Mount St John has been a spiritual site. The church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was the mother-church for the surrounding parishes.
From 1464 to 1542 the Mount was the seat of the Order of the Bretheren of St. John of Jerusalem. Due to their large income, (the great tithes) seven priests could accommodate and feed seven destitute parishioners.
Even after the destruction of both castle and church, St John's day (on June 24th) remained an important holiday. Up until 1794 a hermit lived on the mount and read mass in the chapel.
The Castle
At present, we don't have any definite data neither about the origins nor about the appearance of the first castle on Mount St. John. Excavations have revealed Gallo-Roman substructures below the medieval fortifications.
The first castle belonged to the lords of Gymnich and was located in Dudelange. It was destroyed around 1400 by the Duke of Bar.
The construction of the castle had begun in the early 15th Century. The walls uncovered during the excavations show significantly different construction periods culminating in the castle of the 16th Century (Gothic and Renaissance).
The square stone blocks and reliefs show that the Lords of Gymnich, Boulay, Neufchatel, Hunolstein and Isenbourg invested heavily in both the fortifications and the luxuries of their castle. Various documents describe it as a very 'strong place' -a mighty castle- famous for its feasts. It deteriorated dramatically when from 1542, the kings of France François 1er and Henry II made war on Emperor Charles Quint (Charles V) when it was conquered and reconquered many times before its final destruction in 1552 after which it lost any strategic value.
Subsequently, the ruins were used as a quarry for the nearby villages. In the 1970s, the Friends of History of Dudelange and Mount St. John dug out the remains of the castle and uncovered the foundations of various towers, the palace, houses, stables and outbuildings; three wells and a cistern were partially excavated. The moat and the access to the castle are still visible.
However, the castle still holds many legendary secrets like that of the Virgin of Mount St John, who -transformed into a snake- awaits her saviour every seven years.
https://www.visitluxembourg.com/en/place/castle/mont-saint-jean-castle-dudelange

Château de Mont-Saint-Jean

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The Château de Commarin in the commune of Commarin in the Côte-d'Or département, Burgundy, France, has passed through 26 generations in the same family; never sold, though it has often passed through heiresses, Commarin today is a seat of the comte de Vogüé. It has been classed a Monument Historique since 1949.
Though the site probably has its origins in a Gallo-Roman villa, Commarin is first mentioned, as a maison forte, in a document of 1214. Its seigneurs were a cadet branch of the seigneurs of Sombernon, from the lineage of the first Dukes of Burgundy. In 1346 Jean and his son Jacques de Cortiamble, chamberlain to Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, rebuilt Commarin as a fortified seat; the size and disposition of this moated stronghold established the placement and size of the future rebuildings. The two cylindrical towers with conical roofs date from this rebuilding, and the vaulted chapel. Commarin passed to Agnès de Cortiamble, the elder daughter of Jacques, who brought it as part of her dowry to Jean de Dinteville, seigneur des Chenets.
In the 16th century, Commarin underwent radical transformations to render it a modern habitation. The chapel in the east wing was redecorated with sculptures and a terra cotta tomb. A series of heraldic tapestries woven ca 1515-22, in which family armorials of the Dinteville-Pontailler alternate with alchemical symbols remain in the house. A triptych was executed in 1526, with portraits of Girard de Vienne and his lady.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Commarin was largely reconstructed within its ancient walls surrounded by its moat traversed by a bridge of six arches. At the beginning of the 17th century, Charles de Vienne rebuilt the east wing and then demolished the north wing; the resulting U-shaped house encloses a north-facing cour d'honneur. He constructed a handsome stable wing, replaced the former jeu de paume in the outer court (the basse-cour) ending with two pavilions (1622–23). Following the collapse of a corner tower, the southern corps de logis and western ranges of the enclosed medieval court were rebuilt and given the present classicizing façades, to designs by the Dijonnais Philippe Pâris (1702–13). Its furnishing in the early 18th century by Marie-Judith de Vienne, marquise de Damas d’Antigny, the grandmother of Talleyrand — whose mother spent her childhood at Commarin — rendered it substantially as it exists today. Further outbuildings were constructed around the château.
Commarin avoided pillage during the French Revolution and although the Germans occupied it in World War II, it was treated with respect and retained its magnificent parquet floors and tapestries.
In the 19th century, the parterre gardens in the French style were swept away in favor of a fashionable parc à l’Anglaise, an English landscape garden. In 2004, the dense growth of trees immediately round the château was cut down and a reconstruction of the former formal gardens was undertaken.
The Château de Commarin is open to visitors from April through November.

Château de Commarin

The Château de Châteauneuf, also known as the Château de Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, is a 15th-century fortress in the commune of Châteauneuf, 43 km from Dijon, in the Côte-d'Or département of France. It is a vast stone building, 75 metres in length and 35 metres broad, situated on a rocky outcrop 475 metres above the surrounding plains. It dominates the valley of Canal de Bourgogne.
History
The castle was built in 1132 by Jean de Chaudenay for his son Jehan, who took possession of it in 1175 and became Jean I de Châteauneuf. Facing the threat of the Hundred Years' War, the lords of Châteauneuf then built the powerful fortifications around the 12th century keep. After nine generations in the castle, the reign of the Châteauneufs ended in tragedy when in 1456 the last heiress, Catherine de Châteauneuf, was burnt alive for poisoning her second husband, Jacques d'Haussonville.
In 1457, Philippe le Bon, duke of Burgundy, offered the fortress to his advisor Philippe Pot, also of the Order of the Golden Fleece (French: ĺ'Ordre de la Toison d'or) and a knight of Saint Michael. He then modified the castle to make it more comfortable as a residence, in keeping with the style of the court of the Duchy of Burgundy. A chapel and a residence dated to this time were built out in the court of the castle, in the flamboyant Gothic architectural style. At multiple places in the castle one can find the device of Philippe Pot, « Tant L Valt ».
Philippe died in 1493 without leaving an heir, so the castle went to his brother Guy Pot, then via various alliances to Marie Liesse de Luxembourg. With their entrance into the convent, the castle then passed to Charles de Vienne, count of Comarrin, and remained in the hands of this family for the next 150 years. In 1767, Louis Henri de Vienne sold the castle to a rich banker.
During the French Revolution, all royal symbols and armorial bearings were defaced or destroyed. The castle was then auctioned and passed through various hands until 1936, when the count George de Vogue donated it to the state and Châteauneuf and its neighbouring village were declared as protected historical monuments (French: monument historique).