The complete restoration of the outbuildings of the Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil will be completed very soon. The means to save the endangered 17th century buildings and to provide the site with a new environment and the possibility to offer new options.
When Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil opens its doors on April 1, visitors will be able to explore the completely restored outbuildings(download the 2020 opening details in pdf).
The result will be a more comfortable welcome and a host of new options.
Passing through a beautiful Renaissance gateway, visitors will discover a 17th-century farmhouse, formerly the château's lower courtyard, composed of parallel buildings forming a large rectangle. Surrounding a landscaped courtyard, you'll find a manor house, stables, barns, a granary and the old canal carrying water to the village mill, which was covered in the 18th century and transformed into a washhouse.
A marvellous site, now redesigned to welcome tourists in the best possible way. And so, one surprise follows another.
First of all, a video-surveilled parking lot with around a hundred spaces has been built in place of a former orchard and a wonderful garden known in those days as "le petit paradis".
There's also a museum of folk arts and traditions for visitors to explore on their own, a store selling souvenir gifts, delicatessen items, home decor and even a second-hand goods area...
Finally, the restaurant de la Volière will open its doors and offer traditional and regional cuisine for lunch under an aviary in the park opposite the château, and for dinner in the wash-house.
It was in this context that our artistic director, David Molard Soriano, presented a...
Rencontres musicales, Journées du patrimoine, Colloque Colbert, acquisition of a sculpture for the park, etc. a...