Château de Penne

Penne

Clinging to a vertiginous limestone pinnacle above the gorges of the Aveyron, the Château de Penne has watched since the early Middle Ages over the border between the Rouergue, the Quercy and the Albigeois. Its first known mention dates from 825, on the occasion of a visit by Pepin I, King of Aquitaine. In 1096, Geoffroi, the first identified lord, left on crusade; in 1109 the fortress was made a fief by the Viscount of Albi, and around 1140 the Templars held property there. In 1176, the Counts of Toulouse seized the castrum, before the Albigensian Crusade reached Penne: in 1223, Amaury de Montfort besieged the stronghold, whose defenders, short of water and without reinforcements, had to capitulate. A series of treaties between 1229 and 1243 imposed the handover of the castle to royal authority, effective in 1271. During the Hundred Years' War, from 1365 to 1451, the fortress changed hands several times between English and French. Judged too dangerous, it was dismantled by royal order in 1586 and gradually sank into ruin. Bought in 2006 by the architect Axel Letellier, it has since benefited from a vast restoration programme launched in 2009–2011, with an annual budget of around 80,000 euros, which has made it possible to reopen the site to the public while consolidating its curtain walls and its towers overhanging the void.

Getting there : Village of Penne (Tarn), 40 km north-west of Albi; car park at the foot of the village, then a climb on foot of about 15 minutes by a steep path; admission charge, with medieval events in season.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound