Château de Carles, Saillans, France

Château de Carles was originally laid during the course of the Hundred Years’ War and the building took its current appearance in the early 15th century. It was owned by the De Carle family. In the 17th century, Château de Carles became a beacon for thinkers and literary figures, but was sold as property of the nation during the Revolution, following which many of its buildings were demolished and the estate was reduced to its current size. Today Château de Carles is a wineyard.

User Reviews

Marthe de Bazelaire (5 months ago)
Very beautiful castle with a garden reminiscent of the gardens of Tuscany, always perfect welcome, and of course a very good wine that has nothing to envy to the greatest. Go for it with your eyes closed!

Grégoire Andrieu-Guitrancourt (5 months ago)
Excellent wines! Very big favorite for Haut-Carles 2007!

Bordeaux Winelover (5 months ago)
Essential, for the beauty of the place, as for the quality of the wines! We fell in love with the 2019 vintage that we had the chance to taste during our visit. The big plus: You can buy on site!

Marie Tan (14 months ago)
Très belle expérience ! Dégustation de vins délicieux dans un domaine sublime. Accueil très chaleureux, nous reviendrons c'est certain !

Valentine Sayer (14 months ago)
Unique experience and delicious wines! See you very, very soon!

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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