Can you visit the château de Sombacour?

There is no preserved building, only open-air ruins that can be explored on the castle mound.

What remains of the château d'Usier today?

A circular ditch, the base of a curtain wall and traces of a cart gate, amid ruined courtyards.

Who built the château d'Usier?

It was founded in the 11th century by the lords of Joux.

Why is the castle in ruins?

It was destroyed in 1475 by the Swiss Confederates, damaged again during the Thirty Years' War, and finally demolished in the 17th century.

Château de Sombacour

Sombacour Castle

Val-d'Usiers

Access

No visits on recordNo opening hours or ticketing found

Where: Val-d'Usiers

To make a day of it

Open within 20 km

This week in the agenda

L’Empreinte du temps. Photographier les êtres et les villes au XIXe siècleSat, Nov 7 · Palais Granvelle, actuellement musée36 km

Château de Sombacour stands in Val-d'Usiers (Doubs), in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. No visits are on record for this building.

On the commune of Val-d'Usiers, the ruins of the château d'Usier mark a fortified site founded in the 11th century by the lords of Joux. What remains today is a well-preserved circular ditch, the base of a curtain wall and traces of a cart gate, surrounded by the ruined lower and upper courtyards. Visitors come here less for a standing building than for the shape of a vanished stronghold still readable in the ground, and for its turbulent past.

Written from Château d'Usier

What to know

The site consists of ruins and buried remains, with no standing building to visit.
Seeing the site means walking over uneven ground around the ditch and the former courtyards.
No information on opening days, hours or fees is available for this site.
The castle was destroyed more than once, in 1475 and again in the 17th century, which explains the current state of the remains.

Where this château is

Val-d'Usiers · Doubs · Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Map of the area around Château de Sombacour

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This châteauChâteaux within 40 km

Address

Val-d'Usiers, Doubs

Directions open from wherever you are, by car or public transport.

Get directions View on a map

Heritage status: Protection status unknown; Mérimée record IA00014103

In pictures

Frequently asked

Can you visit the château de Sombacour?: There is no preserved building, only open-air ruins that can be explored on the castle mound.
What remains of the château d'Usier today?: A circular ditch, the base of a curtain wall and traces of a cart gate, amid ruined courtyards.
Who built the château d'Usier?: It was founded in the 11th century by the lords of Joux.
Why is the castle in ruins?: It was destroyed in 1475 by the Swiss Confederates, damaged again during the Thirty Years' War, and finally demolished in the 17th century.