Dordogne Valley Perigord

THE DORDOGNE VALLEY, Périgord

Périgord Noir is the epicentre of mass-tourism in the south east of the Dordogne département, centred around the town of Sarlat and the Dordogne Valley.

This article refers to the valley of the Dordogne River from Montfort to Beynac-et-Cazenac. Often known as “Vallée des Cinq Chateaux” (Valley of the Five Castles), this stretch of the Dordogne River is bordered by some of the most visited (and crowded!) sites of all south-western France: La Roque-Gageac, the gardens of Marqueyssac, the castle-rich sites of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Fayrac, Beynac-et-Cazenac and Les Milandes, without forgetting the ‘bastide’ (walled town) of Domme.

Follow the guide to our loop tour along the peaceful, scenic roads set along the shores of the Dordogne River that connect the charming villages and mighty castles of Périgord Noir.

Lovers of old stone, medieval castles, deep forests and food amateurs, this part of the Dordogne département known as Périgord Noir (Black Périgord) is waiting for your visit! Périgord Noir is called ‘black’ because of the dark colour created by its large sections of thick forest. Its principal point of interest is its long history of human occupation from as early as Prehistoric times while its medieval villages, with their looming castles, witnessed conflicts and battles such as the Hundred Years’ War between the French and the English.

How to get to the Dordogne Valley...

The Dordogne Valley is easily accessible by car from Paris, Bordeaux and Toulouse, via the A20 and A89 autoroutes (French for motorways).

If you travel from Australia you could take a flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle, and travel by TGV from the airport station straight to Bordeaux and rent a car from there.

The TGV from Paris-Gare de Montparnasse takes 3 hours to Bordeaux. A SNCF coach links Sarlat to the train station of Libourne which has direct trains to Bordeaux.

Visit Périgord Noir

Aquitaine Regional Tourism Committee:

http://www.tourisme-aquitaine.fr/

Périgord Tourist Guide:

http://www.dordogne-perigord-tourisme.fr/

Périgord Noir Tourist Guide:

http://www.perigordnoir.com/

Tourist information Centre of Sarlat-la-Canéda:

http://www.sarlat-tourisme.com/

Get travel advice about Périgord!

If you live in Sydney and are planning a trip to Périgord and want to know more about its popular attractions, we can advise you. More details...

La vallée de la Dordogne, Périgord

Périgord is referred to as the ‘Land of 1001 Castles’. The construction of castles began in the 11th and 12th centuries and most were later enhanced with better defensive mechanisms during the medieval battle of the Hundred Years’ War between the kingdoms of France and England. Castles are generally located on very inaccessible sites, such as rocky outcrops or hillocks encircled by bogs. In addition, the proximity of main access roads along the Dordogne River to the castles was strategically efficient to grant or deny right of way.

After the war, and from the 16th century onwards, the Renaissance influence brought light, comfort and a certain extravagance to some of the castles, which makes visitors think of the chateaux of the Loire Valley.

Forty-two of the one thousand castles built in Périgord are open to the public today.

Our tour starts at the Cingle de Montfort, located at a picturesque bend in the Dordogne River. A ‘cingle’ is a local geographical word referring to the idea of ‘meandering’. Between the villages of Vitrac and Carsac-Aillac, the Montfort castle stands in a grandiose setting, highly-coveted for centuries and it is thus not surprising to learn that the castle’s history is a littered with sieges and battles. Taken in 1214 by Simon de Montfort, it was dismantled and rebuilt five times until 1606.

The fortress was renovated extensively during the 19th century when a loggia was added as well as a series of small lanterns which gave it a "whimsical look of a stage set for a light opera", according to the Michelin Green Guide.

Montfort castle was repaired under the bloodthirsty Lord Bernard de Casnac and his wife Alix de Turenne, who were feared for their cruelty against the Catholics in his territory.

Montfort castle is not open to the public.

To enjoy a fine view of Montfort castle, drive along the D703 between Montfort and Carsac and park the car in the parking area. There, the fine panorama over the cliff encompasses the Montfort Meander (Cingle de Montfort) and the Turnac Peninsula covered with groves of nut trees. To the right stands the Montfort castle on top of its promontory.

Montfort

The castles of the Dordogne Valley

Castelnaud Castle © Chateau de Castelnaud

On the left bank of the Dordogne River, the site of Domme is one of the most visited in the region and is often nicknamed “the Acropolis of Périgord” in reference to that of Athens. The village is an old bastide (fortified town) from the 13th century, built on a hill 150 metres above the Dordogne River. Contrary to old walled towns (such as Carcassonne or Provins), a bastide usually had a rectangular layout. However, that of Domme is actually trapezoidal in shape, due to the natural abruptness of the site of the village, and is an excellent example of medieval military architecture. The streets are consistent with the geometrical layout of Domme and its ramparts are right at the edge of the cliff. Since its foundation by King Philippe III (le Hardi) in 1281 during the Albigensian Crusade, the fortified royal bastide has been well-preserved over the years and boasts a fine view over the Dordogne Valley.

Read more about Domme in our dedicated article about the bastide.

Domme

La Roque-Gageac is arguably one the most beautiful places in Périgord Noir, or at least one of the most photographed in south-western France. Listed as one of France’s most beautiful villages, the riverside town is built along the right bank of the Dordogne River against a towering limestone cliff. This unique setting of narrow, peaceful streets and cliff-dwellings also enjoys a subtropical microclimate.

The medieval village is a mix of humble cottages and the dwellings of the former gentry, its houses squeezed between the Dordogne River and the towering cliff. The stepped narrow streets lead up to the Manoir de Tarde, which dominates the village.

From the church, marvel at the superb view of the Dordogne River often dotted with canoes and barges. The village is at its best in the late afternoon when the crowds have left and stone walls glow honey-coloured in light of the setting sun.

Read more about La Roque-Gageac in our dedicated article about the village.

La Roque-Gageac

Unique of its kind, the suspended gardens of Marqueyssac are one of the finest achievements in the history of French gardens.

Laid out on a rocky spur overlooking the Dordogne Valley between La Roque-Gageac and Beynac, the Marqueyssac Gardens cover an area of 22ha. The charm of the terrace gardens has delighted its visitors for the last three centuries and there is no doubt that Marqueyssac has become one of France’s most beautiful Italian-style gardens.

The spectacular bastion terrace is made up of numerous box-trees carefully pruned by the four gardening employees of the estate, with cypress trees also giving structure to the landscape. The box-trees are all sculpted in curves to mimic the roundness of the surrounding hills and it can be rather enjoyable to get lost along the winding paths of this green labyrinth.

Read more about Marqueyssac in our dedicated article about the gardens.

Marqueyssac Gardens

The most visited castle in the South of France dominates the picturesque village of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle on the left bank of the Dordogne River. During the Middle-Ages, the mighty English fortress commanded the strategic position at the meeting of the Dordogne and the Céou Rivers, opposite the rival French castle of Beynac.

A visit to Castelnaud Castle can be unaccompanied and takes approximately one hour to discover the interior, including the machinery room, the guard room, the artillery tower, the defensive equipment room, the keep, and the “chemin de ronde” (a protected raised walkway behind the ramparts) through many winding stairways and small chambers that children will be excited to discover.

The extensive and fascinating Museum of Medieval Warfare was inaugurated in 1985 under the leadership of Kléber Rossillon. It features an important collection of weapons and armoury from all over Europe, punctuated by furniture, and structural models.

Outside, high on the battlements, are displayed the most powerful siege engines that have been reconstructed full-scale to recreate the turbulent atmosphere of various moments of the past: bombards, trebuchets, mangonels, giant crossbows, and catapults.

The view of the Dordogne Valley from the terraces is remarkable, stretching from the village of La Roque-Gageac to Marqueyssac opposite and Beynac Castle to the right.

Read more about Castelnaud-la-Chapelle in our dedicated article about the castle.

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

Built on the top of a hillock next to the Dordogne River with a view over Beynac Castle, Fayrac Castle is the least known of them in this part of the Dordogne Valley, mostly because it cannot be visited. However, there are good views of it from the path next to the ramparts.

Construction of the castle took place from the 13th century onwards, with double curtain walls (for defensive purposes) and a double moat, with only two drawbridges. Located very close to Castelnaud Castle, Fayrac was an English stronghold during the Hundred Years’ War, with a strategic lookout over the French position in Beynac Castle, on the other side of the Dordogne River.

Fayrac consists of two lodging houses from the 15th and 16th centuries, displaying Gothic and Renaissance architectural elements, including round towers and turrets with a pointed slate roof. The keep was only built in the 19th century, during which time the castle was renovated extensively.

Fayrac

The strategic position of the village of Read more about Beynac in our dedicated article about the castle. is a point of interest in the Dordogne Valley which can not be ignored. From the very start, the village will charm you with its cobbled, steep little lanes and stairways which climb up to the formidable castle, where the view is simply breathtaking. It is therefore unsurprising that Beynac gained the prestigious title of “one of the most beautiful villages of France” with its houses clinging majestically to the cliff-face.

Visits to Beynac Castle have been organised in such a way that visitors discover it the same way a knight would have, upon first arriving at the fortress: the dark guardroom, the 14th century kitchen, the great Hall of State, and the Hall of State.

The last staircase to the top of the keep climbs up to the watch-point, which looks towards the south bastion where the panoramic view encompasses the Dordogne Valley and the castles of Marqueyssac, Castelnaud, and Fayrac.

Before leaving the Castle plateau, be sure to visit the Romanesque Chapel with its roof of lauzes, which was given to the municipality of Beynac-et-Cazenac.

Read more about Beynac-et-Cazenac in our dedicated article about the castle.

Beynac-et-Cazenac

Famously known for being “Josephine Bakers’ castle”, Les Milandes is a Renaissance chateau, which benefits from a wonderful view over the Dordogne Valley.

It is located on the left bank of the Dordogne River, on the commune of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, a little further to the West than Beynac-et-Cazenac. Les Milandes was listed as an historical monument by the French government in 1986.

The castle was built in 1489 by François de Caumont, lord of Castelnaud at the request of his wife, Claude de Cardaillac who wished to live in a more comfortable – not to say, more prestigious – dwelling than the feudal castle of Castelnaud.

He retained various architectural elements from the Middle-Ages, including turrets, newel staircases, and gargoyles.

From the Revolution throughout the entire 19th century, the castle was inhabited, though was barely maintained, before it suffered a serious fire.

From 1900 to 1908, a rich industrialist, Charles de Claverie, considerably restored the castle in neo-Gothic style with new towers with mullioned windows, stained-glass windows, gargoyles, chimeras, balconies and the laying out of formal gardens, adding to the charm of the Renaissance building.

Les Milandes hosts an exhibition illustrating the career of the black American entertainer, known for her dance in a banana skirt at the Folies Bergères in Paris in 1928. Josephine Baker (1906-1975) purchased Les Milandes in 1947 to welcome her “rainbow tribe”, made up of many orphan children of all races that she had adopted. Many of her mythical objects are displayed: undisclosed documents and stage costumes, including the famous banana belt! Josephine Baker transformed the interior of the castle, adding all the contemporary comforts: central heating, running water and electricity. She arranged for a huge kitchen to be constructed with enormous stoves and one of the first American-style fridges to be introduced in that part of France! She also commissioned the creation of six art-deco bathrooms, two of them decorated with the colours of her favourite perfumes.

The whole estate was transformed into a leisure park, inaugurated in 1949, with a mini-golf course, a large swimming pool, a restaurant and a theatre.

However, Baker’s massive expenses led her into bankruptcy and the castle was sold in 1968 for a tenth of its value. Four different owners succeeded Josephine Baker at Les Milandes. Since 2001, Henri and Claude de Labarre have been the owners of the chateau.

The gardens of the chateau are also worth a visit, to observe the variety of beautiful tree species: centenary magnolia trees, a Lebanon cedar, a hackberry, cork oaks, and umbrella pines. Laid out by Charles Claverie, who commissioned Parisian garden architect Jules Vacherot, the seven hectare park is punctuated with romantic balustrades and magnificent chimeras. In the 2000’s, new restoration work enhanced the gardens once again, with the plantation of box-trees and more flowers which improved the structure of the park’s terraces. It is possible to watch a surprising 30-minute show, with buzzards, hawks, American fish eagles and owls, which is supposed to inform about the use of these birds of prey by feudal lords in the Middle-Ages.

For more information about Chateau Les Milandes, visit: http://www.milandes.com

Les Milandes

Your visit to Périgord Noir can continue with the not-to-be-missed town of Sarlat-la-Canéda to the North-East and the Valley of the Dordogne towards Bergerac (with the meanders of Trémolat and Limeuil) and eastwards in the direction of Quercy.