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Legendary castleDordogne

Château de Montferrand

Montferrand-du-Périgord

Dimensions
Two fortified enclosures separated by a ditch, dominated by a large crenellated square keep of the 12th century; rounded towers buttress the curtain walls. The protection covers the whole castle, the buildings, the remains, the ground and the fortified enclosure.
Period
Founded in the 12th century; crenellated square keep of the 12th century; the castle becomes the fief of a branch of the Birons in the 14th century; alterations in the 15th century.
What stands there
Inscribed as a monument historique on 29 November 2013 (record PA00082688). Private property. The castle is described by the record as a former noble stronghold dependent on the bastide of Beaumont in the 12th century, a statement that cannot stand, since the bastide of Beaumont was founded only in 1272.

The château de Montferrand commands the village of Montferrand-du-Périgord, in the valley of the Couze, at a crossing of old roads. Formerly a noble stronghold attested in the 12th century, it was turned into a fortified castle by the Biron family at the end of that same century, after they had entrusted their ancestral castle to their Gontaut-Biron descendants; in the 14th century it became the fief of a branch of that house. Two enclosures can be seen, separated by a ditch and dominated by a large crenellated square keep of the 12th century, with rounded towers buttressing the curtain walls. The course of the Couze fed mills and forges, which encouraged settlement and trade. The ensemble was inscribed as a monument historique on 29 November 2013.

Further reading

Getting there : Private property; no known opening to the public. Visible from the village of Montferrand-du-Périgord.

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 Montferrand
Eliane Promis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Dordogne (80).