Castelnaud-la-Chapelle: partial château view
Looking up towards the Château de Castelnaud, in the village of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (département de Dordogne, in the Aquitaine region of southwestern France), on a clear morning at the beginning of June (2009). It was taken from the lane that leads up towards the castle, which featured a variety of early summer flowers along the route.
This village is located in the Périgord Noir area of Dordogne, along and on a steep hill overlooking the confluence of the river Dordogne and the Céou, one of its tributaries. The yellow-tinted limestone construction of the buildings is typical of the area, as are the steeply pitched rooves.
Built during the 12th century, the Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (Castel-nau -- "new castle" -- in Occitan) had an eventful history through the rest of the Middle Ages. While it was held by the Catharist Bernard de Casnac, it was a target of the so-called Albigensian Crusade and was temporarily seized by the elder Simon de Montfort; from 1259 through most of the Hundred Years' War, its castellan was a supporter of the Plantagenet English king (as duc d'Aquitaine), making it an arch-rival of the nearby, French-supporting Château de Beynac, which rendered expansions of its fortifications necessary; then, in 1442, it came under French domination after being besieged and taken by the army of Charles VII, with further reconstruction during the second half of the 15th century and the 16th century. By the 17th century, however, it was little occupied, so its condition deteriorated until it was abandoned at the time of the French Revolution and became a source of building stone in 1832. With such a history, the Château, which was restored from a ruinous state 1967-2012 and opened to the public, is a very appropriate site for the Musée de la guerre au Moyen Âge (Museum of Warfare in the Middle Ages), founded in 1985.
Much of the Périgord Noir is wooded, and the dark hillsides are the basis for one explanation of the appellation "Black Périgord."
(Historical information from the Château de Castelnaud website, la base Mérimée (an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture) reference number PA00082446, and the French-language Wikipédia, all last consulted 10 July 2021), as well as the Michelin Dordogne, Berry, Limousin Green Guide (Watford, Herts, UK: Michelin Travel Publications, 2002).
Please note: In 2009, when this picture was taken, the region was Aquitaine, but since 1 January 2016, Dordogne has been within the larger region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
(From the "archive" -- 2009.)
[Castelnaud château view morning 2009 jun 1 n; DSCN3071]
Castelnaud-la-Chapelle: partial château view
Looking up towards the Château de Castelnaud, in the village of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (département de Dordogne, in the Aquitaine region of southwestern France), on a clear morning at the beginning of June (2009). It was taken from the lane that leads up towards the castle, which featured a variety of early summer flowers along the route.
This village is located in the Périgord Noir area of Dordogne, along and on a steep hill overlooking the confluence of the river Dordogne and the Céou, one of its tributaries. The yellow-tinted limestone construction of the buildings is typical of the area, as are the steeply pitched rooves.
Built during the 12th century, the Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (Castel-nau -- "new castle" -- in Occitan) had an eventful history through the rest of the Middle Ages. While it was held by the Catharist Bernard de Casnac, it was a target of the so-called Albigensian Crusade and was temporarily seized by the elder Simon de Montfort; from 1259 through most of the Hundred Years' War, its castellan was a supporter of the Plantagenet English king (as duc d'Aquitaine), making it an arch-rival of the nearby, French-supporting Château de Beynac, which rendered expansions of its fortifications necessary; then, in 1442, it came under French domination after being besieged and taken by the army of Charles VII, with further reconstruction during the second half of the 15th century and the 16th century. By the 17th century, however, it was little occupied, so its condition deteriorated until it was abandoned at the time of the French Revolution and became a source of building stone in 1832. With such a history, the Château, which was restored from a ruinous state 1967-2012 and opened to the public, is a very appropriate site for the Musée de la guerre au Moyen Âge (Museum of Warfare in the Middle Ages), founded in 1985.
Much of the Périgord Noir is wooded, and the dark hillsides are the basis for one explanation of the appellation "Black Périgord."
(Historical information from the Château de Castelnaud website, la base Mérimée (an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture) reference number PA00082446, and the French-language Wikipédia, all last consulted 10 July 2021), as well as the Michelin Dordogne, Berry, Limousin Green Guide (Watford, Herts, UK: Michelin Travel Publications, 2002).
Please note: In 2009, when this picture was taken, the region was Aquitaine, but since 1 January 2016, Dordogne has been within the larger region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
(From the "archive" -- 2009.)
[Castelnaud château view morning 2009 jun 1 n; DSCN3071]