Crozet Keep

The Crozet Keep, locally known as Donjon de Crozet, stands in the village of Le Crozet in the Loire department in France.

A first castle on this site, a promontory overlooking the Loire plain, may have been founded as early as 1078-1095. The present, round keep is believed to have been built, coinciding with a rebuilding of the castle, around 1180, by Archambaud Le Blanc, Viscount of Mâcon.

In 1220, the castle came into the hands of the Counts of Forez. It was probably they who also fortified the village during the 13th and 14th centuries.

By 1862, the medieval castle had become a ruin. Its remains were then used as construction material for a new church, built in its place. The Crozet Keep was, by then, being used as a village bell tower and had been truncated. 

The present appearance of the keep is the result of a restoration in 1950 when it was also equipped with its present battlements.

The Crozet Keep can be freely visited. A nice keep in a quaint medieval village.

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