Château de Val

Lanobre

Built for the most part in the 14th and 15th centuries by the d'Estaing family, who bought the estate in 1397 at the instigation of Guillaume IV d'Estaing, the château of Val raises its six pepper-pot towers on a rocky spur overlooking the Dordogne valley, at Lanobre. Guillaume V d'Estaing, the last lord of that name to own it, parted with it in 1529. Its appearance changed radically in the 20th century: the building of the Bort-les-Orgues hydroelectric dam led in 1946 to the expropriation of the estate and the creation of a vast artificial lake. The original plan was to drown the château along with the hamlets and the surrounding park swallowed up by the rising waters; the flooding level was eventually lowered and the château, perched on its rock, narrowly escaped destruction. Abandoned, it was plundered in 1949, before a caretaker moved in in 1951. In 1953, EDF, owner of the site since the expropriation, sold it for a symbolic franc to the commune of Bort-les-Orgues, which undertook its restoration. Since then, the château's silhouette reflected in the waters of the lake has made it one of the most photographed monuments in Auvergne, visited every year by several tens of thousands of people.

Getting there : Access via the D922 then the road to the Aigle dam, commune of Lanobre; car park on site, tours of the château and summer events; view from the shores of the lake.

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

Ambient sound