Travel Guide La Voulte-Sur-Rhône

La Voulte is an ancient working-class town built on a rocky promontory, bathed by the Rhône and dominated by its castle. It's a fortified town, and it's hard to imagine its medieval appearance today, when the Rhône still came to "tap" against the rock, making a loop - volta, hence the origin of the commune's name - before resuming its course. The château, commissioned by the Bermond d'Anduze family, dates from the 1320s, but it was during the Renaissance, with the alterations made by Anne de Levis, that the building reached its apogee. Admire the majesty of the Princes' Chapel, a jewel of Renaissance Mannerist art. The site hosts regular cultural events.Another heritage site saved from ruin in extremis was the foundries. In the 19th century, a company was set up in La Voulte to exploit iron ore. The impressive remains of this English-style smelter can be seen in Parc Baboin. The four blast furnaces, now listed as Historic Monuments, still mark the urban landscape. La Voulte is an important stage on the ViaRhôna cycle route. Nearby, the sensitive natural area of La Boissine boasts a paleontological site of international renown and treasures deposited at the bottom of an ancient tropical sea nearly 160 million years ago, in the Middle Jurassic, including the fossil of the world's oldest octopus