Château de Duras

Duras

The château de Duras overlooks the medieval town from a promontory above the Dropt valley. A first fortress was built here in the 12th century by Guillaume Amanieu; in the early 14th century, Gaillard de Goth, a kinsman of Pope Clement V, turned it into a powerful stronghold. The lordship passed by marriage to the Durfort family, who then took the name Durfort-Duras and kept it until 1838. The Durforts embraced the Reformation in the 16th century, which earned the château several sieges during the Wars of Religion, before the family returned to Catholicism and rose to the highest offices of the kingdom. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the château was remodelled into a comfortable residence of Renaissance inspiration, surrounded by formal French gardens. Plundered at the Revolution, it fell into ruin and remained abandoned until 1969, when restoration began. Local tradition tells of a "white lady", the spirit of a woman unjustly accused of treason during the medieval troubles who died locked in the château's dungeons, then used as a prison; visitors say they can still hear footsteps and the clinking of chains in the cellars.

Getting there : In the centre of Duras, about 35 km south-east of Marmande by the D708; parking nearby, self-guided or guided visits.

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

Ambient sound