The Château de Couzan is a ruined castle in the commune of Sail-sous-Couzan in the Loire département of France.The castle stands on a rocky outcrop to the west of Sail-sous-Couzan in the Forez mountains range above the Lignon du Forez river. The châtellenie of Couzan was the most important in the former province of Forez.
The castle is owned by a private society. It has been listed since 1890 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The surrounding lands were added to the listing in 1947.
Construction of the castle dates from the 11th century, with further building works in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.
The castle is composed of three enceinte walls surrounding a 13th-century keep.
During the Middle Ages, there was a square dressed stone into which a basin was cut - the pierre à Dîme (tithe stone). Each peasant owed to the lord a share of his harvest which he threw into the dîme. On each side of the stone were carved faces surrounded by a sun. Years of good harvest were represented by a smiling sun; bad harvests by a sun grimacing. This stone, in 1971, inspired the emblem of the commune of Sail-sous-Couzan, a sun head.
French Wikipedia has articles on the families which have owned the castle: