The best walks and hikes around Salagnon

War memorial in the village center

Found somewhat by chance and at a very affordable price, this hotel restaurant is a superb stopover for a bike ride!

Easy walk

Chapeau Cornu Castle was originally a fortified house built on the site of an ancient Roman camp. Between 800 and 1100, feudalism took hold. The sovereigns of Vienna and the Bishop created “rear fiefdoms” to ensure security and repel attackers. In the 12th and 13th centuries, there were two allied families: the Capellas and the Cornutis. It is by derivative of these 2 Latin names that “Chapeau Cornu” was born. In 1300, Amédée de Rossilon was governor of Chapeau Cornu. He left this property to his nephews Pierre and Louis Chapel. After Pierre's death in 1358, Louis succeeded him. Pierre will leave 2 daughters, one of whom Antonia marries the Knight Etienne Laure, Lord of Veyssillieu. The latter was killed by the English while fighting under Duguesclin. His son Jacquemont Laure avenged him and his daughter Béatrice married Imbert de Groslée, Seneschal of the King, in 1413. His sons and descendants remained in Chapeau Cornu until 1650. It was in 1601 that Chapeau Cornu took the name Château. But in 1638, the Castle fell into disuse. The last occupants, the Matthieu de Rame couple, left no children and in 1693, the property passed to Aymard Micha de Burcin. He expanded the estate through multiple purchases and died in 1755, donating all his property to his cousin Philippe Guillaume de Grammont. After the storming of the Bastille on the night of July 25 to 26, 1789, “the great fear” began. A band of rioters, determined to destroy the property of the squires, arrived in Chapeau Cornu at 1 a.m. The steward at the time had the idea of treating them as guests and opened the doors of the wine cellars to them. The damage underground is impressive: the undrinked wine is emptied but the castle remains intact. After the Revolution, the castle was purchased by Jean André Barge from the de Certeau family. He diverted the bed of the stream coming from the hill which then passed into the castle. He had the large buildings to the south-east and east built on the vault. Ruined, he sold part of the land to people from Vignolles. In 1855, the castle and 80 hectares surrounding it were bought by his son Ferdinand de Certeau. The estate remained in the family until 1891. The Bourgoin Court then ordered a judicial liquidation and had the property sold in several lots. Source: Vignieu website

Nice view of the Chapeau Cornu castle from the road.

The existence of a castle in Saint-Chef was assured in 1197: on this date, Abbot Hugues Borrel, with the consent of his chapter, granted the inhabitants of the castle relief from certain taxes on burials. At an altitude of 353 meters, the site of the old castle appears like a narrow promontory, clearly dominating the abbey town. The topography of the place, like the name later given to this residential area (castle farmhouse), allows us to imagine that the houses of a castle town were crowded into this space. The tower itself is located on the edge of a vast oval terrace, overlooking a second terrace or lower courtyard, placed to the north. Square in plan, it appears as a homogeneous, extremely massive construction. The thickness of the walls on the ground floor (240 cm) imposed by the thrust of the vaults, reduces the living space to less than half of the built surface. The facing preserved in the upper parts and inside is neat: it is made up of small rubble stones of molasses and limestone, well squared and arranged in regular courses. At the corners of the building, beautiful blocks of the same gray-green molasses, carefully harped. Source: Châteaux de France

This group of houses, located on either side of the road, was at the time of the canons owned by the Sacristans

Small intimate and romantic park, closable, above the abbey church of Saint-Chef, with a pretty view point.