The Château de Saint-Montan is a castle in the commune of the same name, in the Ardèche department. Built in the eleventh century for military purposes, it reaches over time a residential purpose. Very touched by the wars of religion, it remains abandoned until the late 1960s, where for forty years, nearly 10 000 volunteers will succeed to revive the castle and its town. The oldest parts of the castle date from the tenth century, the fortress was then extended in its lower part until the fourteenth century. During the sixteenth century, during the wars of religion, the castle and the medieval town suffer greatly. The village fell to the Protestants in 1563, and then in the spring of 1570, the Coligny army captures the castle. In 1609, the castle-fortress seemed uninhabitable and required 8,700 pounds of repairs. In 1649, for 117 pounds, a gap of nine meters long was clogged, but probably no other remedy was taken. During the Revolution, the fortress is sold. First used as a farm, it will end in a stone quarry. The village, then uninhabited, falling apart in the early twentieth century. It was only from 1969, over a period of forty years, that the entire medieval village was restored by volunteers, including scouts, school children and students.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-rhone-alpes/chateau-de-saint-montan.html

Château de Saint-Montan

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Alba-la-Romaine is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southern France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Albains or Albaines.
Geography
Alba-la-Romaine is located some 5 km west of Montelimar on a mountain ridge overlooking the Rhone river valley. The commune can be accessed on Highway N102 running west from Le Teil and through the northern part of the commune and continuing west to Saint-Jean-le-Centenier. Local Road D253 enters the commune from Sceautres in the north and runs south crossing the N102 before continuing to the village of Alba-la-Romaine and then continuing south to Valvigneres. Another district road the D107 commences from the village and goes south to Saint-Thome. There is an extensive network of small country roads throughout the commune.
There are extensive areas of farmland in the commune especially following the ridge line from north to south as well as steep mountain slopes. An extensive network of streams throughout the commune run into L'Escoutay river which runs south out of the commune then east to join the Rhone near Viviers. The western border of the commune is formed by the Ruisseau de Julieu. Le Rounei, and Le Ruisseau de Berg streams which flow into Le Salauzon stream which is part of the southern border of the commune before eventually joining L'Escoutay river.
There are a few villages and hamlets in the commune including: Les Baumes, Le Buis d'Alpes, La Roche, Saint-Philippe, and Le Pont. A metre-gauge railway line traverses the north of the commune but the nearest station is at Saint-Jean-le-Centenier.
There are also the remains of a Roman city and a medieval village in the commune.
Toponymy
Alba-la-Romaine town was founded in Roman times and bore the name Alba Helviorum ("Alba of the Helvii," an ancient Celtic people). It was the capital of the Helvii and became the episcopal see during the 4th century. From the Middle Ages until 1904, it bore the name Aps, the family name of the local proprietors.
The origin of the name Alba is not Latin as may be thought (in Latin albus meaning 'white') but pre-Celtic or Celtic.
The current name of the village was formalized on 30 May 1986. Previously the village had been called only Alba.
History
It has been assumed that when the city of Alba was founded at the beginning of the Roman Empire it was the successor, as often occurred in Gaul, of an earlier city. The existence of a protohistoric oppidum Chaulène on the plateau, northwest of Alba, is in fact likely. The assumption of a lowland habitat can also be used as the excavations to the west of the "St. Peter" site have yielded the remains of stone tools dating from the late third millennium. At the location of two "domus" south-east of the "home field Lauzun" site, a habitat was found of La Tène III (first century BC.) The discovery of imported ceramics of "Campanian type A" which debris was also collected in "Saint-Pierre" such as collars, handles, and lips of wine amphorae from Italy and some Allobrogian currency issued in the third quarter of the 1st century AD revealed a long term relationship with the Romans before the invasion. Other hill forts are known in the territory of Helviens such as Jastres North.
When Bituitos, the Chief of the Arverni people who were located beyond the Cevennes, was defeated in 121 BC by the Roman consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, Alba was already the capital of the Helviens territory which corresponded approximately to the current department of the Ardeche. Their neighbours were Segusiavi: to the north-west the Vellaves Gabales and to the south Volques Arécomiques. Fabius Maximus managed to separate the Helviens the Allobroges and Arverni and draw them into alliance with Rome. They obtained the title of allies and friends of Rome and Julius Caesar observed, on his arrival in Gaul, that they were independent and had their own customs and administration. In 83 BC Cabur, the Chief of the helviens obtained Roman citizenship under the name of Gaius Valerius Caburus and his son Gaius Valerius Troucillus became a friend of Julius Caesar. The pro-Roman politics of the Helviens allowed Caesar to install his forces near the Arverni. After winning over the Helvie and its capital Alba there was major economic development.
Subsequently, Augustus Caesar conferred on Alba the privilege of Roman law. First attached to the province of Aquitaine in the time of Strabo, it appears to have been integrated into the province of Narbonne.
"The Starting point of the Roman roads to Valencia, Vienna, and Lyon by the banks of the Rhone, another to Bourg-Saint-Andéol, Narbonne, and finally to Gergovie. Apart from the roads, Alba was the centre of an agricultural region, especially for wine, and a regional trading centre of Gaul.... Alba was from the first century a major city", said Marcel Le Glay, "although not equaling the splendour of Arles, Orange, Nimes or Vienna. Until its peak in the second century, Alba developed on two axes: south on the terraces of Escoutay and north in the "Bagnols" district located near the valley the Rhone below the Massif Central.
At the time of the Christianization of the city, the first episcopal see of the region remains uncertain, ranging from the late first century or that of the second century. After its decline, probably from the late third century, the city lost its episcopal function in the middle of the fourth century to the benefit of Viviers. The ancient site was abandoned and a new settlement was made in the Middle Ages in the location of the present village.
The names of the Bishops of Alba are known to us through a document written in 950 by the Bishop of Viviers (Thomas II): the Charta Vetus: they were called Januarius, Septimius, Maspicianus, Melanus and Auxonius. The existence of a Bishop Avolus is a popular tradition (Yves Esquieu). This was attributed to the Alemanni at the destruction of Alba Helvorium in 406 AD.
Bishop Avolus was put to death and his successor Bishop Auxionus established the fortified town of Viviers which gave him his diocese name Vivarais. Yves Esquieu gave a transfer date around 475 but if so then the transfer would have been done by Promotus, a successor of Bishop Auxonius.
Against the wall of the Jewish cemetery in the northern district of Bonn, Germany there is a relief from the tombstone of the first known inhabitant of Bonn: namely a Roman soldier who came in 35 AD from Helviorium Alba (Alba-La-Romaine today). The tombstone inscription, translated from Latin means:
"Here lies Publius Clodius, son of Plubius, from the Voltinia Region, born at Alba, soldier of the first legion, 48 years old, died after 25 years of service.".

Alba-la-Romaine

The Château des Adhémar is a castle, later converted to a Renaissance style château, in the French town of Montélimar in the Drôme département. It is located on a hill in the centre of the town.
History
Its origins are found in the 11th century when the first castle was built by the Count of Toulouse, the Duke of Narbonne. Little of this remains.
In the second half of the 12th century it became the property of the Adhémar de Monteil family, lords of Rochemaure, later lords of Grignan, then at the height of their power. The palace they built substantially exists today.
In the 14th century, it was taken by the papacy, joining the Pope's castles until 1447, when Montélimar was returned to the kingdom of France. The site of many armed conflicts, especially during the Wars of Religion, the castle suffered much damage and was transformed into a citadel, then back to a pleasant residence with the return of more peaceful times. In the 15th century it was used as a prison.
In the middle of the 16th century, Louis Adhémar rebuilt in the Renaissance style. During the French Revolution, the castle was partially destroyed.
The castle was a prison again between 1791 and 1926, a use which has meant that it remained practically intact.
Architecture
The château is considered to be one of the last examples of Romanesque castle architecture. having a fortified curtain wall, round walk, keep, a house and chapel, combining social, family, political and religious life in one. Only the Narbonne tower is outside the first wall, some metres to the north. Of the original 12th-century residential buildings, only the palace remains. There are three large rectangular rooms reached through a monumental doorway. The spectacular decoration of the lodgings is concentrated on the first floor gallery, with no fewer than nine semicircular arches with sculptured columns. This series of windows extends the full length of the building.
The keep has three floors. The austere architecture, with thick walls, reminds visitors of the castle's medieval origins.
The castle has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1889.
Contemporary art
The property of the Département de la Drôme since 1947, the Adhémar’s castle is a monument historique and, since 2000, a contemporary art centre. This centre works with artist projects linking both a high standard of proposals and a real firmly fixed territorial spot. The aim of the centre of contemporary art through the three castles of the Drôme general council (Adhémar at Montélimar, Grignan, Suze-la-Rousse) is to match contemporary creation and cultural heritage. Since its creation, about a fifty temporary exhibitions has been performed with renowned national artists, even international and younger ones.
Besides the contrast between medieval architecture and the various forms of present creation, the castle originality is expressed by the artists who have to keep in mind the important heritage of the place. Thus, each artist develops a strategy in their creation to emphasize, to refute, to express, to reveal or to conceal the powerful architectural presence of the Adhémar’s castle.
Exhibitions
2001 : André Morin, Alberto Giacometti, Ange Leccia, Laetitia Benat, Nicolas Delprat
2002 : Danielle Jacqui, Daniel Buren, Ivan Fayard, Patrick Tosani
2003 : Krijn de Koning, Felice Varini, Jean-Luc Moulène, Damien Beguet
2004 : Virginie Litzler, Alexandre Ovize, Nicolas Prache, Sarkis, Adam Adach, Stéphane Calais
2005 : Delphine Balley, Clare Langan, Christine Laquet, Stéphanie Nava, Tadashi Kawamata, Françoise Quardon, Pierre David
2006 : Alina Abramov, Armand Jalut, Aurélie Pétrel, Bernhard Rüdiger, David Renaud, Philippe Durand
2007 : Eoin Mc Hugh, Le Gentil Garçon, Marie-José Burki, Etienne Bossut
2008 : Cécile Hesse, Gaël Romier, Sophie Lautru, John Armleder, Lilian Bourgeat, Christine Rebet
2009 : Jean-Louis Elzéard, Magali Lefebvre, Sarah Duby, Xavier Veilhan, Jean-François Gavoty, Loris Cecchini, Yvan Salomone, Delphine Gigoux-Martin, Gilles Grand, Benjamin Seror
2010 : Julien Prévieux, Pierre Malphettes, Delphine Balley, Yan Pei Ming
2011 : Victoria Klotz, Ann Veronica Janssens, Betty Bui, Eric Rondepierre
2012 : Guillaume Bardet, Olga Kisseleva, Emmanuel Régent, Marie Hendriks
2013 : Mehdi Meddaci, Guillaume Bijl, Mat Collishaw, Glenda León

Château des Adhémar

Château de Rochemaure ruins are located in the municipality of Rochemaure in the Ardèche department.The keep was built between 1120 and 1140. The manor house and the walls date only from the thirteenth century. The owners succeed: the Adhemar de Monteil, lords of Rochemaure until 1359, the Levis-Ventadour until 1694 the Rohan-Soubise until 1784, Garnier of Hières until 1912, the Massin Miraval up 'in 1974, when the castle was sold to the municipality for a symbolic franc. In 1598, the new governor Jacques Hilary prefers to build a new castle, the castle of Joviac. The castle was abandoned in 1630. In 1730, the owner, the Prince of Rohan Hercules sells the roof to cover a barn. The castle, accompanied by his two walls and tower of Guast are the subject of a classification as historical monuments since March 22, 1924.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-rhone-alpes/chateau-de-rochemaure.html

Château de Rochemaure

The Chateau des Roure was a strong point on the ancient route by the Pont d’Arc. In the 11th century, a Viraco tower belonging to the Benedictine monks of Virac was mentioned.
It dates back to the end of the 14th/beginning of the 15th century. It belonged to the family of Pierre de Beauvoir de Grimoard du Roure until 1825; then to the Pradier family, whose descendants are the present owners. An important site during the wars of religion, the chateau welcomed the Duc de Rohan (the Huguenot leader) in 1628.
In 1629. Louis XIII and Richelieu ordered the destruction of the defenses of the chateau and of the ramparts of the village. After the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, the Count of Roure renounced the Protestant faith and became Catholic.
During the Camisard revolt in 1703, Jean Chevalier (their leader) attacked the Chateau de Roure and burned the village church.
The Chateau de Roure has been open to the public since 1975 and was classified as a Historic Monument in 1978. From October 2013 till March 2016 important restoration was carried out to return the Chateau des Roure to its original appearance before 1629.
New rooms were opened to the public in Spring 2016.
https://www.chateaudesroure.com

Château des Roure

The origins of the Château de La Verrerie date back to 1422.
In this year, King Charles VII gave the County of Aubigny to John Stuart, Count of Darnley and Constable of Scotland, in recognition of his loyal services during the Hundred Years’ War in the battle against the English.
A small glass lakeside glass factory, which was demolished in 1815, inspired the name of “La Verrerie”.
However, the château was not built until the end of the 15th century, at which time Béraud Stuart, the grandson of John Stuart, returning from a campaign in Italy, constructed the main house to the side of the Chapel, that joined onto the Renaissance Gallery, which was built in 1525 by Robert Stuart, the son-in-law of Béraud Stuart and a comrade-in-arms of Bayard.
In 1670, the last Stuart of Aubigny died and the Château de La Verrerie, as laid down in King Charles VII deed of donation, was returned to the French crown.
King Louis XIV, acting on a decree of 18 March 1673, gave the land back to Charles II, King of England, who was the direct male descendant of John Stuart. In the same year, at his request, it was given as a gift to his mistress, Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.
In 1734, the Duke of Richmond, son of Louise de Kérouaille and Charles II inherited the seigniory, raised to a duchy-peerage.
In 1842, the heirs sold the Château and the land of Aubigny to Léonce de Vogüé, the ancestor of the current owners.
In 1895, Marquis Louis de Vogüé built the south wing which now houses the reception rooms and most of the bedrooms.
In 1962, Count Antoine de Vogüé, who had then been Mayor of Oizon since 1953 – and who would go on to become the Cher departmental councillor in 1964 and was re-elected to both positions – settled permanently in the ground floor of the north wing.
In 1965, he opened the château to visitors and joined the Route Jacques Cœur association.
In 1978, his wife, Countess Antoine de Vogüé, opened the ‘La Maison d’Hélène’ restaurant. In 1982, she started welcoming guests to the chambre d’hôtes. She now lives in the large house to the rear of the restaurant, known as the ‘Gros Chêne’.
In 1993, their son Count Béraud de Vogüé and his family took over the family business on their return from Canada and the USA.
The only owner of La Verrerie to have been born there, he works relentlessly to promote La Verrerie and other private châteaux that belong to the association ‘La Route Jacques Cœur’, over which he presides.
Every winter, the association ‘Les Amis du Château de La Verrerie’, which was founded in 1999, organizes concerts in the Grand Salon of the Château.
http://www.chateaudelaverrerie.com

Château de Vogüé

This is the eleventh century the lords of Balazuc, powerful family who ruled the Bas-Vivarais, built a tower along the wall that surrounded the village. It was gradually expanded in the thirteenth century. Some famous people include Balazuc Pons, who joined the First Crusade and was killed at the siege of Archas (today Tell Arqa, in north Lebanon), just before the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.
The Overlords Balazuc always remained loyal to the king of France, which explains that, during the religious warfare, the village remained Catholic in the midst of a land that had largely converted to Protestantism. During the French Revolution, the Marquis de Vogüé, whose family had inherited the castle, took flight. Irony or lightness, the castle was sold « by candle » in 1793, and for the sum of 625 pounds (about 3125 euros today). Just a little more than the price of the village oven and forty times less than the mill. The buyer’s name was Louis Mollier and from now on the castle was used as a farm.
In the 19th century, as many properties, Ardèche Castle Balazuc becomes a silk farm embodying the golden age of silk production. In 2002, the descendants of Louis Mollier sold the ruined buildings to a couple from Lyon. Daniel and Virginie Boulenger, restored it and made a beautiful guest house, which you know today. In 2011, the castle is purchased by Luc and Florence Lemaire. In a thousand years, this is only the third time that it has been sold…
https://chateaudebalazuc.com

Château de Balazuc

A Renaissance and classical palace
In the heart of the Drôme provençale, dominating plains and mountains, the château of Grignan is built on a rocky headland overlooking the village. A witness of the French Renaissance architecture and classicism, the edifice has had an eventful history. A fortified castle mentioned as early as the 11th century, it was transformed during the Renaissance into a prestigious "pleasure residence" by the Adhémar family. In the 17th century, the Marquise of Sévigné stayed in it by her daughter Françoise-Marguerite's side. Dismantled at the Revolution then rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, it has belonged since 1979 to the Drôme Department which is pursuing an ambitious program of restorations and purchases. The château of Grignan which became a Listed Building (Monument historique) in 1993 and received the Musée de France label, accounts of the art of living at different periods. This enchanting place is also used for a cultural program throughout the year.
A unique view
Situated to the south-east of Montélimar, the village of Grignan marks a boundary between the north, with its oak and pine woods and broom-covered moors, and the south dominated by vines and lavenders. The charming little town which has kept its medieval shape follows the contours of a thirty-three meter-high rocky headland crowned by the château. 
You get to it through steep lanes, after having admired the fourteenth-century belfry tower and some fine fifteenth-century houses. 
Once at the top, you can discover the majesty of a Renaissance architecture together with a magnificent view with the Lance mountain, the Mont Ventoux and the Dentelles de Montmirail standing in the distance. The famous château terraces offer a remarkable view over the north of Provence.
In a letter dated 13th July 1689, Madame de Sévigné wrote to her daughter:
"It is even pleasant not to be tempted to leave your beautiful terraces. [...] All your views are admirable; I know the one of the Mont Ventoux. I very much like all these amphitheatres, and am persuaded, like you, that if ever the sky has some curiosities for us to see, its inhabitants will not choose another place than that one to look at them with ease, and at the same time, you will have the most magnificent one in the world, without a doubt..."
https://www.chateaux-ladrome.fr/en/chateau-of-grignan

Château de Grignan

The château of Suze-la-Rousse used to belong to the prestigious family of the Princes of Orange. The site was occupied as early as the Gallo-Roman period. The name of Suze first appeared in 852 in an imperial diploma of the Emperor Lothair: the Emperor Charlemagne is said to have given the land of Orange and its surrounding area (of which Suze was a dependency) to William Short Nose, his cousin.
In the 12th century, Tiburge, William's descendant, brought the land of Suze by marriage to Bertrand des Baux, Prince of Orange. In 1392, Raymond IV, Bishop of Saint-Paul, gave Suze to his niece Marguerite des Baux, dubbed the Red-Haired ("Rousse" in French), hence perhaps the origin of the name of the village...
However, it is more likely that the qualification "la Rousse" came from the colour of the stone used for the castle. In 1426, Marguerite's daughter, Antoinette, married Louis de La Baume. That was the start of the Baume-Suze's lineage. Count François de la Baume-Suze, Governor of Provence and passionate defender of the catholic cause during the Wars of Religion, was one of their most famous members.
The castle was only slightly damaged during the Revolution. Pierre Louis de La Baume-Suze died in Switzerland in 1797 at the age of 19. The castle therefore became the Isnards' property following the marriage between Aldonce-Julie, Pierre-Louis' sister, and Marquess des Isnards. This family undertook the first restoration projects. 
Much later, their great-granddaughter Éliane married Baron Jean Gaspard de Witte whose daughter, the last lady of the manor, Germaine de Witte, wedded Marquess de Bryas who died during the First World War.
Marchioness de Bryas passed away in 1958 and bequeathed the castle to a charity, the Orphelins Apprentis d’Auteuil.
In 1964, the château of Suze-la-Rousse became a Listed Building (Monument Historique).
In 1965, it was bought by the Drôme Department.
The second floor of the château has been occupied since 1978 by the Wine University, an establishment for research and training in vines and wines.
https://www.chateaux-ladrome.fr/en/the-chateau-of-suze-la-rousse/history