Name - Chateau de Beynac
Location - Beynac-et-Cazenac
Department - Dordogne 24
Fee Required
State - Chateau

The chateau was built from the 12th century by the barons of Beynac (one of the four baronies of Perigord) to close the valley. The sheer cliff face being sufficient to discourage any assault from that side, the defences were built up on the plateau: double crenellated walls, double moats, one of which was a deepened natural ravine.

Blueprint

The oldest part of the castle is a large, square-shaped, Romanesque keep with vertical sides and few openings, held together with attached watch towers and equipped with a narrow spiral staircase terminating on a crenellated terrace. To one side, a residence of the same period is attached; it was remodelled and enlarged in the 16th and 17th centuries. On the other side is a partly 14th century residence side-by-side with a courtyard and a square plan staircase serving the 17th century apartments. The apartments have kept their woodwork and a painted ceiling from the 17th century. The Salle des Etats (State Hall) has a Renaissance sculptured fireplace and leads into a small oratory entirely covered with 15th century frescoes.
At the time of the Hundred Year War, the fortress at Beynac was in French hands. The Dordogne was the border between France and England. Not far away, on the opposite bank of the river, the Chateau de Castelnaud was held by the English. The Dordogne region was the theatre of numerous struggles for influence, rivalries and occasionally battles between the English and French supporters. However, the castles fell more often through ruse and intrigue rather than by direct assault, because the armies needed to take these castles were extremely costly: only the richest nobles and kings could procure them.



The castle was bought in 1962 by Lucien Grosso who has restored it.
Visitors to the castle can see sumptuous tapestries showing hunting and other scenes from the lives of the lords of the period. The Chateau de Beynac has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1944. Beynac castle has served as a location for several films, including Les Visiteurs by Jean-Marie Poire, in 1993, La Fille de d'Artagnan by Bertrand Tavernier, in 1994, Ever After by Andy Tennant, in 1998, and Jeanne d'Arc by Luc Besson, in 1999. The village of Beynac below the chateau, also served as a location for the film Chocolat by Lasse Hallstrom, in 2000.