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Legendary castleDordogne

Château de Mareuil

Mareuil-en-Périgord

Dimensions
A lowland castle set on a motte and ringed with water-filled moats fed by the Belle; irregular triangular plan flanked by corner towers, entrance gate-tower preceded by a barbican with drawbridge and portcullis, two round towers with machicolations and grazing-fire gun loops framing a basket-handle arched gateway. Inside, buildings in an L, a habitable square keep with a monumental staircase, a chapel in the Flamboyant Gothic style and rooms with panelling and great chimneypieces of the 17th century.
Period
Fortress of the 12th century destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, rebuilt at the end of the 15th century on the old foundations, with elements of the 16th century and further work of the 18th.
What stands there
Listed as a monument historique (classified) by the list of 1862 (PA00082629). Partly ruined and private property: the former outbuildings are lived in by the duke of Montebello and his family, descendants of Marshal Jean Lannes, who bought back and restored the château in 1963. The château houses the Montebello family collection, including a Napoleonic holding.

Mareuil is one of the four baronies of the Périgord. The original castle, raised in the 12th century by the Mareuil family, was destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, then raised again at the end of the 15th century by Geoffroy de Mareuil as a residence in the Flamboyant Gothic style, still girdled with moats and armed for artillery. Burnt during the Wars of Religion, it remained abandoned for about a hundred and fifty years. Isabelle de Beauville acquired it in the 17th century and bequeathed it to her daughter Jeanne-Françoise, wife of Daniel de Talleyrand-Périgord; the family restored it but lived there little. Bequeathed to the hospital of Chalais, which turned it into a farm, it was bought back and restored by the dukes of Montebello. Arnaut de Mareuil, one of the best known of the troubadours of the langue d'oc, was born here in the middle of the 12th century.

Further reading

Getting there : Discovery of the exterior is free and without charge; the interior can be visited from June to September, Monday to Saturday, always on a guided tour (by Benoît de Montebello or a member of the site's staff), since the château is lived in.

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 Mareuil
JLPC · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Dordogne (80).