Castle of Busseol

History of the castle

1 - The castle

Built in 1170 per Guillaume VIII on the still visible remainders of a Gallo-Roman castrum of IIe century, on a volcanic dyke dominating Limagne, to 700 m of altitude. This castle-extremely successively belonged, right from the start, with famous characters: the Counts of Auvergne, the Pope Alexandre III, Jean Stuart Prince of Scotland, White of Clermont grand-daughter of St-Louis... and came under the royal field by Catherine de Médicis, queen of France, Comtesse of Auvergne which remained there with his son Charles IX in 1566 at the time of its voyage in Auvergne. It is thus regarded as most historical of the Province. The castle of Busséol preserved this military character which enabled him to resist the head office of Philippe Auguste in 1215, at the attacks dessoldats of Black Prince during the One hundred Year old war as to the attack of the Duke of Rochefoucauld head of the Members of a league in 1595. Saved by Richelieu, it was inhabited until the Revolution. One can admire in the large room, an exceptional chimney circular of XIIe century, furniture high time, the weapons and armours evoking the feudal life. Covered way, one discovers an astonishing hanging garden and a splendid landscape extending from the Mounts from Drill with the Solid mass of Sancy.

2 - The Garden of the Crusades

The garden of the Crusades dates from the time of the construction of the castle in XIIe century. It is at the level of the noble stage, at the top of a spectacular rock. Invisible of outside for reasons of safety at the time of the Middle Ages. This kind of garden was called "pre-high". One finds crop plants or floral there being used as support to a whole naive symbolic system, such: plants of the Holy Trinity, the pink of Ispahan, the Cross of Jerusalem, the tree of Judaea, the trumpet of Jéricho, Iris of Egypt and other species of Mediterranean origin. This garden is divided into levels different authorizing from the sights of a terrace on the other. It is a garden of not very common composition in France. Classified garden of exception by the Institute of the Gardens and Parks of France.