Château d'Ancy-le-Franc

Château d'Ancy-le-Franc hosts seminars, business meetings, exhibitions, fashion shows, product launches, cocktails and weddings, with seated dinners for up to 220 in its Orangerie. The site offers more than 800 m² of indoor space and over 15,000 m² outside. The Renaissance château stands at Ancy-le-Franc in the Yonne, in northern Burgundy.

Seminars and company events

Large rooms are available for seminars and commercial meetings, and the volume of the indoor spaces suits exhibitions, product launches and runway shows. Wi-Fi, electricity, lighting, heating, tables, chairs and private parking are included, and the château sells a day rate for business events. There is no imposed caterer, and the château provides a list of caterers on request. A visit of the state apartments and their Renaissance murals makes a natural break in a working day.

Weddings and receptions

The Orangerie is a vaulted hall on one level, accessible to wheelchair users, seating up to 220. It is available from late May to mid-October. The Cour d'Honneur suits a cocktail, as do the shaded Loggia Sud on the same courtyard and the Cour de l'Orangerie, which looks onto the château and the north parterre. The Salle des Gardes can be considered outside exhibition periods, and the rooms of the main floor can be used for photographs, as can the English park and the French gardens. The wedding package covers the dinner space, a drinks area, a catering area, tables and chairs, exterior lighting and parking for one day.

Rooms and capacities

Orangerie: up to 220 seated. Indoor spaces: more than 800 m². Outdoor spaces: more than 15,000 m². The site does not give capacities for the courtyards, the loggia or the Salle des Gardes.

Accommodation

The Castle Cottage, in a private courtyard, sleeps up to nine, which suits the couple and close family or a small organising team. Other guests stay in hotels and guest houses in the surrounding area.

Catering

You choose your caterer. The château does not impose suppliers and sends a list of caterers with its quote. Lunch at the château is also offered to visitors.

History and setting

The château was built between 1542 and 1550 for Antoine III de Clermont-Tonnerre, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers, to designs by Sebastiano Serlio, the Italian architect François I brought to his court. Jacques Androuet du Cerceau published it in 1576 in his survey of the finest buildings in France. It is a historical monument and holds the largest ensemble of Renaissance mural painting in France, often compared with Fontainebleau. The château sits beside the Burgundy Canal in a 50-hectare park.

Getting there

The address is 18 place Clermont-Tonnerre, 89160 Ancy-le-Franc. Chablis, Vézelay, Dijon and Beaune are within reach for excursions before or after an event. Ancy-le-Franc has a regional railway station on the Paris to Dijon line, and Montbard TGV station is about 25 km away, around an hour from Paris Gare de Lyon. The château is open to visitors from early February to mid-November, so private events are planned around its opening hours.