Château des Vergnes

A former country manor, the Château des Vergnes is one of the rare elements remaining from the local agricultural landscape of the 17th century.

The Château des Vergnes is a former country manor built in the 17th century and modified in the 18th century. The château was in the middle of a large farming estate that occupied part of the Bédat lowland, renowned for its fertile land. Until the early 20th century the château was surrounded by just a few farms. They grew mainly wheat, cereals and fruit trees.

In 1925 the construction of the La Plaine workers’ housing estate by the Michelin plant would profoundly alter the landscape, with its identical houses and small gardens. After World War II, the first large complexes appeared in the neighbourhood, with the big Flamina residential towers.

The château, with a rectangular layout, features two right-angled lodges. The main façade develops with seven bays and three levels. The central bay features an additional level covered by a sloped slate roof. The windows on the last two levels of the wings and central bay, as well as the cornices, are finished with Pots à Feu finials. A small octagonal lodge embellished with ionic columns and oculi stands in front of the château.

The façades and roofs of the château, and those of the octagonal lodge adjoining it, have been listed on the historic monuments registry since 1976. The château now houses an annex of Clermont-Ferrand’s city hall.