Ville de Château-Chinon

Perched in the heart of the Morvan massif, Château-Chinon is a typically Morvan town with its slate roofs. Very old, it was first a Roman oppidum, then it was built around a feudal castle, seat of a seigniory which belonged to the greatest families of the kingdom. But its position as a border town between Burgundy and the Nivernais, between Burgundy and the Kingdom of France, meant that it was subject to numerous sieges and destructions. Of its past splendour, very little remains, apart from the Notre Dame gate which was built with the stones of the castle destroyed in 1475.

Château-Chinon had a great encounter with history in 1981, when François Mitterrand, its mayor, became President of the Republic. François Mitterrand and Château-Chinon wrote a page in the history of France together, because "it all began here". A city based on the past, resolutely turned towards the future. An old country still young.