Chateau de Beynac

Beynac stands on a limestone cliff about a hundred and fifty metres above the river, with a sheer drop on the valley side and a double moat cut on the plateau side. Richard the Lionheart held it briefly. During the Hundred Years War the Dordogne was the front line here, with Beynac French and Castelnaud, visible across the water, English, and the two castles faced each other for decades. The interior is austere: bare stone halls, a barrel-vaulted keep, a kitchen and a small oratory with faded frescoes. Luc Besson filmed The Messenger here and Lasse Hallstrom used it for Chocolat.

History

The castle was built in the 12th century by the barons of Beynac, one of the four baronies of Périgord, to close the valley; the cliff made attack from the river side impossible, so its defences, double walls, double moats and a double barbican, face the plateau. Its oldest part is a large square Romanesque keep, with residences remodelled in the 16th and 17th centuries, 17th-century woodwork and a painted ceiling, and a Hall of the Estates leading into a small oratory covered in 15th-century frescoes, among them a Last Supper with Saint Martial as steward. In the Hundred Years' War the Dordogne was the border between France and England, with Beynac French and Castelnaud across the river English, though castles changed hands more often by ruse than by assault. Listed as a monument historique since 1944, the castle was bought in 1962 by Lucien Grosso, who restored it (Wikipedia, Château de Beynac).

What you'll find

• The cliff position - a fortress a hundred and fifty metres above the Dordogne.
• The bare interiors - vaulted halls and a keep with almost no furnishing.
• The Castelnaud view - the rival castle facing it across the valley.
• The oratory frescoes - faded medieval painting in a small chapel.

When to go

April to October; the castle opens year-round with shorter winter hours. Morning light suits the valley view. Summer is crowded and the village road is narrow.

What to expect

The interior is deliberately unfurnished and can feel empty. The climb from the village is steep, and the upper car park is small. Terraces are unfenced in places.

Nearby

Castelnaud faces it across the river; La Roque-Gageac is upstream.

Key facts