Château de Sainte-Alvère (château de Lostanges)

Sainte-Alvère

Sainte-Alvère bears the name of a 9th-century martyr and keeps, above the Louyre, the remains of one of the strongest seigneurial residences of the Périgord. The Lostanges family built there in the 15th century a fortress that held the road between Bergerac and Périgueux; a 13th-century core survived within the work. In 1780 the castle was entirely restored with a double enclosure, curtain walls and two towers; fourteen years later, in 1794, it was razed by revolutionary order. There remain a round tower preserved on three faces and deliberately broken open, a porch, ramparts and a dovecote, inscribed as monuments historiques on 22 August 1949. In 1970 a 14th-century reliquary was found in the church containing fragments of a young girl's skull, which tradition holds to be those of Alvéréna.

Getting there : Municipal ruins in the heart of the village. The Grand Périgueux tourist office notes that "its imposing tower can still be admired from the Es Liens garden, from the banks of the river Louyre". The village can be walked freely; an educational truffle plantation and a permanent exhibition complete the visit.

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

Ambient sound