Seven centuries of history
The lords of Valon appear in the records in 1265: that year two brothers, Philippe and Étienne de Valon, acknowledged that they held the castle from the Viscount of Carlat. The lordship then passed to the Peyre family, then to the Rollands, when Aymeric Rolland married the heiress in 1341, and on through a long line of families until the Revolution.
During the Hundred Years' War, in 1378, the band leader Aymerigot Marchès, an ally of the English, seized Carlat, Alleuze and then the fortress of Valon, from which he held the countryside to ransom. He was beheaded in Paris in 1391. The keep and the Saint-Blaise chapel, where the lords were buried, date from the end of that troubled 14th century.
After the Revolution, nobody looked after the castle any more. The roofs fell in around 1845 and the dressed stones went into houses round about. Only the keep kept its structure. Listed as a historic monument in 1925, the ruins were bought in 1999 by the Carladez group of communes, which made them safe and opened them to the public.
What you can visit
You enter through the courtyard, between the walls of the old living quarters. In the keep, three rooms one above the other tell the story of the lord of Valon's life with plans, drawings and anecdotes. A staircase of 111 steps, built into the thickness of the walls, leads up to the terrace. From the top the view takes in the whole of the gorges: the Couesques reservoir below, the Montézic plateau opposite, and the Saut du Chien waterfall on the other side of the valley.
Children follow Jacques and Lucie, the castle's two mascots, and can dress up as a knight, a princess or a witch in the gallery. In summer and during the school holidays there are guided tours and storytelling tours, including a Halloween special in the autumn holidays.
Practical information
- Opening: from the spring school holidays to the end of September and during the autumn holidays, closed on Mondays. In 2026: 2.30 pm to 6 pm in spring and September, 10.30 am to 6 pm from mid-July to mid-August, 2.30 pm to 5 pm in the autumn holidays.
- Prices: about €6 for an adult, €3 for ages 8 to 12, free for younger children.
- Contact: +33 5 65 66 22 36, or the Carladez tourist information office in Mur-de-Barrez (+33 5 65 66 10 16).
- Access: a few minutes' walk from the cottages. By car, there is a signposted car park at the entrance to Valon.
Our tip
Go up to the terrace in the late afternoon, when the light drops into the valley. Then walk round below on the Coultades trail, which starts at the end of the village: you will see the keep from the terraces where vines once grew.