Château de la Roche

The Château de la Roche hosts meetings and team days for up to 35 people in conference layout, or 20 around a table, with escape games and guided theatrical visits as team activities. The castle stands on a rocky outcrop in the Loire at Saint-Priest-la-Roche, in the Loire department, upstream of Roanne.

Seminars and company events

Meetings take place in the salon 1900, a room with early 20th-century decor equipped with Wi-Fi, a video projector and a screen. Coffee breaks, simple or more generous, are arranged by the château. Between sessions, the team can play one of the escape games set in the castle or follow a guided theatrical visit of the rooms. Staff can point to nearby restaurants and other activities to complete the day. Groups of 10 or more paying people get a group rate for the theatrical visit, and groups of 25 or more can ask for dates outside the public calendar. The château also runs public events such as summer concerts and a murder party during the autumn holidays.

Rooms and capacities

The salon 1900 takes 35 people theatre-style and 20 in a round-table set-up. It is the only meeting room the château lists. The site has its own car park for cars, bicycles and coaches, with spaces for visitors with reduced mobility, and the château welcomes visitors with disabilities.

Catering

The château does not list a restaurant. Breaks are served on site, and lunches are taken in restaurants nearby, which the team can recommend.

History and setting

The first lords of La Roche, modest vassals of the Count of Forez, built a fortified house on the rock between 1256 and 1291. The De Vernoilles family held it from the 15th century; it was derelict by 1707, gained a classical wing after its purchase by La Rivollière in 1755 and passed to the Bouvet family some thirty years later. In 1900 the Roanne industrialist Paul Roustan bought it and restored it in the Gothic style seen today. EDF acquired the site in 1965 for its dam project, and since the construction of the Villerest dam in 1982 the castle has stood on an island in the lake. The commune of Saint-Priest-la-Roche bought it for a symbolic franc in 1993, the volunteers of Les Amis du Château de la Roche restored it, and guided visits began in 1996. The intercommunal body COPLER has managed it since 2007 and redesigned the displays. The water around the rock gives a meeting a quiet setting away from town.

Getting there

The address is 323 allée du Château, 42590 Saint-Priest-la-Roche. The car park takes coaches, which suits a group arriving together. In autumn, the château opens at weekends and during school holidays, from 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:30.