Château de Morimont The Château de Morimont ( ) is a ruined castle in the Alsace region of France , situated in the " commune " of Oberlarg in the Haut - Rhin " département " . It is 40 km south - west of Mulhouse and 45 km west of the Swiss city Basel . History . The first documented mention of the castle is from 1271 when the count of Ferrette made an oblation to the bishop of Basel . It was occupied by , and takes its name from , the Morimont family , vassals of the Ferrettes and later the Habsburgs . A war with Basel and the Swiss led to the destruction of the castle some time between 1445 and 1468 . It was rebuilt by the Morimonts in the 15th and 16th centuries with seven artillery towers . In 1582 they sold it to the counts of Ortenbourg Salamanque who kept it until the Thirty Years ' War during which it was destroyed by French troops in 1637 . In 1641 , Louis XIV gave it and the manor to the Vignacourts , who stayed until the French Revolution . It subsequently belonged to Jean Bruat , Aaron Meyer and , from 1870 , the Viellard family . Architecture . Built on a rocky east - west crest , the castle dominates the route between Oberlag and Levoncourt . It is constructed from Jurassic limestone with a lime mortar . The northern building , measuring 51 by 7 . 5 m ( ~ 170 by 25 ft ) has an underground semi - circular vaulted cellar running the full length and the remains of two spiral staircases . The southern building consists of a polygonal staircase tower as well as remains of pointed - arch vaulting and a fireplace . The tower in the north west corner has oven - shaped vaulting . The southern artillery tower has three vaulted casemates : its cannon openings are set to fire horizontally , with one covering the entrance . The north east tower , built in 1515 has been restored and the present entrance to the cellar through the curtain wall is not original . The oldest part of the present castle — a U - shaped tower in the southern corner — dates from the 13th or 14th century . Referred to by most authors as a keep , it was built onto the bare rock and provided the first residential quarters . The south west Schlossturm Tower dates from the 15th century as do part of the west curtain wall and the south curtain wall . In the north , the great hall of 1552 , on the probable site of the former lower courtyard , is flanked by two large artillery towers ; the north east tower dated 1515 carries the arms of Hans Jacob de Morimont and his wife Margarete de Furtenberg . In the south , there was a second residence of which a staircase tower remains . The castle entrance was defended by a low casemated tower and a barbican . In the middle of the west wall is a tower with wells . The adaptation of the castle to artillery warfare was modern in conception but with little military value , the site being dominated from three sides by high ground . Its Renaissance form is particularly early for Alsace and is explained by the Morimonts ' close links to France . The castle was used as a quarry until its restoration by Quiquerez starting in 1864 . A 1361 document refers to a lower castle ( " " Bas Morimont " " ) and a higher castle ( " " Haut Morimont " " ) . The former is located at the present Morimont farm to the west . Very little remains ; dated to perhaps the 12th or 13th century , it was destroyed by the 15th century at the latest and is not mentioned after 1423 The Château de Morimont and the neighbouring smaller castle ruins are listed , since 1841 , by the French Ministry of Culture as historical monuments ( " monument historique " ) .