Hauts LieuxChapels, sanctuaries & legends

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Legendary castleDordogne

Château de Sauvebœuf

Aubas

Dimensions
Buildings arranged around a square courtyard, in the Louis XIII taste, of a composition compared with that of the palais du Luxembourg. East gallery, pavilions, great staircase, original roof timbers preserved, dovecote, balustrade overlooking the Vézère. A fountain made in 1610 by Nicolas de Rambourg. Inside: Louis XIII furniture, a Renaissance tapestry, the so-called Mirabeau room overlooking the Vézère, a cabinet of curiosities, and a prehistory museum.
Period
17th-century château raised by the family of Ferrières de Sauvebœuf, no doubt to the designs of Nicolas Rambourg, replacing a 15th-century building destroyed in 1633; major restorations in the 19th century and then from 1986.
What stands there
Listed as a monument historique (inscribed) on 2 July 1987, the listing extended on 9 October 2009: façades, roofs, east gallery, pavilions, original roof timbers, great staircase, courtyard enclosure, dovecote, grounds and balustrade above the Vézère; Mérimée record PA00082324. Private property, bought back in 1986 by Claude Douce and restored since.

Sauvebœuf stands on the left bank of the Vézère, at Aubas, near Montignac. The 15th-century castle having been destroyed in 1633, the Ferrières de Sauvebœuf family raised another in the 17th century, of a Louis XIII ordering that has been compared with the palais du Luxembourg; the architect Nicolas Rambourg is said to be its author, as he is of the fountain of 1610. The Oberkampf family lived there afterwards, and the young Mirabeau stayed there — the room that overlooks the river bears his name. Much decayed, the château was bought back in 1986 and restored; it houses today a prehistory collection of which Yves Coppens was the patron.

Further reading

Getting there : Private château open to visitors in season, with its prehistory museum. Check the times with the château.

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

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Château de Sauvebœuf
Père Igor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Dordogne (80).