The Chateau de Cirey is a chateau in Cirey-sur-Blaise, Haute-Marne, France (not to be confused with Bellevaux Abbey in Haute-Saône, sometimes also referred to as the chateau of Cirey-lès-Bellevaux). The chateau was the home of Émilie du Châtelet and her lover Voltaire from 1734 to 1749. Today the chateau is owned by the count of Salignac-Fénelon. Various parts of the building and its interiors have been protected as a monument historique since 21 September 1981. History In the 17th century the seigneurie of Cirey was held by a member of an influential family from Lorraine, Louis-Jules du Châtelet. He held an official post at the French court and was governor of Aigues-Mortes. However he sided with Gaston, Duke of Orléans in his intrigues against Louis XIII, fell from favour and was condemned to death by quartering. All his property was confiscated and he fled to escape execution. His wife Christine de Gleiseneuve succeeded in regaining the seigneurie, but could not prevent the 11th century castle from being slighted in 1633. When Louis XIII and his brothers were reconciled in 1634, Louis-Jules was amnestied and returned to his estates. In 1642 he began building a new house in the baroque style in the foundations of the old castle. Before his death in 1671, only one tower and an extension were built, of the planned structure with four towers and three wings. The castle became famous in the second half of the 18th century when it was the home of the Marquis Florent-Claude du Châtelet, Count of Lemout, Seigneur von Cirey. He was a lieutenant general in the army of Louis XV and had married the 18 year-old Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil in 1724. The couple had three children before Émilie met Voltaire in Paris in 1733 and began a relationship with him. With the consent of the Marquis, Voltaire moved to Cirey. When Voltaire arrived in 1734 he found a somewhat run-down building in the style of Louis XIII in red brick and pale stone. He set renovations in hand, and between 1734 and 1735 he had a new wing built, in which the couple installed their laboratory and a library of 21,000 books. In the following years, until the early death of Madame du Châtelet in 1749, Cirey was a meeting point for literati and intellectuals from every part of France. From Émilie’s son Louis Marie Florent du Châtelet,