1001 Chateaux in the Dordogne Perigord...
 erigord is one of the regions of France with the highest number of chateaux, manors, and fortresses. According to the local legend, one fairy was flying over the Dordogne with a bag full of chateaux, when the bag suddenly had a hole and lost more than a thousand chateaux.... According to Jean Secret a famous local historian, the Dordogne Perigord would have some 1,500 chateaux and manors.
They offer a varied architecture, but are all worth a detour. Here are those you should really go and visit... |
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Beynac
An extraordinary feudal fortress: do not leave the country without admiring the extraordinary panorama from the last terrace of the chateau. Besides, this site was French, English, French... during the 100-year War. An exceptional history and a breathtaking site.
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Castelnaud
It was in the troubled context of the Crusade against the Albigensians that Castelnaud made its appearance in history. The castle was at the head of a domain of middling importance; to the north, the Dordogne River marked the boarder with the lands of the powerful barons of Beynac. The master of the domain was Bernard de Casnac, ardent defender of the Cathar faith with a reputation for cruelty. In 1214, the leader of the Albigensian Crusade, Simon de Montfort, took the castle and installed a garrison there.
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But, Casnac fought back and succeeded in retaking the castle one year later.
He hanged Montfort's entire garrison before being definitively driven out himself by the Archbishop of Bordeaux who subsequently burned the castle.
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Fénelon
Surrounded by a double wall, this strong-silhouetted château overlooks the valley down below. The birth place of François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon (1651-1715), archbishop of Cambray, preceptor of the King's children and also the author of "The Adventures of Télémaque", it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful châteaux in Périgord. Built on top of a series of stony terraces, it brillantly combines the war features of the Middle Ages with Renaissance elegance.
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Commarque
Château de Commarque is situated near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, some 15 km to the North West of Sarlat. The spectacular remains of this splendid castrum proudly overlook the Valley of the Beune, and are near a natural spring that led men to settle there as soon as during prehistoric times. Near the breathtaking donjon built in 1380, archeologists have discovered the ruins of a fortified village with its knights' tower, its chapel, its houses built directly in the rock, all of which were buried away in the vegetation for 350 years, ...
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Les Milandes
Built in 1489 by François de Caumont, Lord of Castelnaud, for his wife Claude de Cardaillac who wished a "house" that would be less austere than the feudal Castelnaud, this Renaissance chateau benefits from a wonderful panorama onto the valley of the Dordogne. Lauzes-covered roofs (flat stones), panellings, large mullioned windows, and wonderfully preserved stained-glass windows give it its undisputable beauty. You'll see there Renaissance fireplaces or Art-Déco bathrooms, and gargoyles watching over the garden and over its century-old magnolias.
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