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Legendary castleDordogne

Château de Salignac

Salignac-Eyvigues

Dimensions
Two enclosures on a rocky spur. The outer, polygonal enclosure carries corner towers of the 16th century and a defended postern. The 16th-century castle replaced the square keep of the 12th: a rectangular main range with a large square tower and round corner towers. A separate building houses two chapels one above the other, the ground-floor one of the 12th century. The Saint-Martial tower of the 14th century, underground galleries with gun-loops cut around 1480.
Period
Site mentioned around 980 with Geoffroi de Salignac, "castrum de Salagnac" cited in 1040; two towers of the 11th century around a motte; a major rebuilding campaign in the 15th century under Antoine de Salignac; alterations of the 16th century.
What stands there
Inscribed as a monument historique on 23 May 1969 — façades and roofs of the buildings, ramparts, land (parcel AB 257); Mérimée record PA00082912. Privately owned since 2006, under restoration. Not to be confused with the château de Fénelon, at Sainte-Mondane, which passed to the junior branch Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon.

Salignac dominates its village from a rocky spur, north-east of Sarlat. The name appears around 980 with Geoffroi de Salignac, and the castrum de Salagnac is cited in 1040 in the chronicles of the abbey of Conques. Two towers of the 11th century enclosed a motte. The Hundred Years' War, in which the place passed from French to English hands and back, left the castle badly damaged; Antoine de Salignac raised it again around 1480, adding a front framed by towers and underground galleries with gun-loops. The Gontaut family succeeded in 1545 through the marriage of Jeanne de Salignac, then the Montmège and the Noailles; the Salignac-Fénelon bought it back in the 20th century. Inscribed on 23 May 1969, it has been under restoration since 2006 and can be visited in season.

Further reading

Getting there : Open in season since 2021: June and September 10.30 am–5 pm, July–August 10 am–6.30 pm, every day. Guided tours, evening tours by lantern, re-enactments. Rates: €9.90 adult, €7 student, €4 from 10 to 18 years.

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 Salignac
Tylwyth Eldar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Dordogne (80).