The castle | ©Thierry de Villepin / CC-BY-SAChalmazel's name probably comes from chal, which means "wood", and mazel, diminutive of mas (house you can find in South East France), in other words, "little house in the woods". Pretty poetic, for a castle!
Arnaud de Marcilly, chamberlain for the count of Forez, put up the castle in September 1231, by order of Guy de Forez who wanted to establish a strategical fortress here, to control all the valley. De Marcilly's descendants soon took the name of Chalmazel.
The castle fell to the old family de Talaru in the middle of 14th century, who rebuilt it in 1533. They kept Chalmazel until 1850, when the last marquis de Talaru passed away.