The Château de Salignac

The Château de Salignac , which is located in the town of the same name, is a medieval fortress currently undergoing reconstruction. It is a project, a real human adventure for the rescue of an exceptional heritage of the region. It is one of the first strongholds of Périgord, a sentinel which also guards the border between Périgord and the nearby Lot. At the entrance to the Borrèze valley , the Château de Salignac is a pleasure to visit, it opens its doors and all its secrets to you !

Photos from the report: Guide to Périgord

17 years of work and it's not over !

The restoration of the castle involves the careful reconstruction of its parts, one after the other. The first mentions date back to the beginning of the year 1000, it has since been installed on a rocky spur at the entrance to the Borrèze Valley. The Château des Seigneurs de Salignac watches over the inhabitants who have occupied the caves and other dwellings built all around, nestled against the rock.

We know that the castle was a co-seigneury, that is to say a sort of shared residence of squires ! We came together at the time to be stronger and share certain costs. This is why there are several dungeons, because, after all, each family has its own! Up to 4 Lords of the Salignac family and 6 others ( 10 Lords in total !) would have lived inside the castle which was, from the ^12th century, a stronghold which grew in size. Fortifications were built to reinforce the protection of the whole in the ^14th century. The Salignacs are part of the powerful families of Périgord and Quercy and in the ^15th century, a main building was added to the castle as well as a staircase tower and two large reception rooms.

Time takes its toll, the castle changes hands (for the Gontauts) and it is abandoned and falls into disrepair from the ^16th to the ^20th century. In 1944, French heritage protection campaigns highlighted the Château de Salignac as an element to be preserved. The whole is registered as a remarkable site , 2 other protections by decree were granted during the last century and in 2006, the current owners (Starckmann family) bought the site and began a restoration. The Château will re-open its doors to the public in 2021 and work continues, to safeguard this priceless heritage !

Visit the Château de Salignac in Périgord Noir

Come visit the Château de Salignac ! A perfect moment with the family, on a site under construction but with emphasis , explanations and great care for transparency with regard to the research carried out and the work carried out. It’s a chance to be able to witness this rebirth of an emblematic building in the region !

2 dungeons, a main building, a castle, a chapel, an auditorium, a noble house, a bastion and all around, ramparts placed on the original mound : the entire co-lordship is being restructured.

We enter through the bastion, the visit begins on the grassy mound with a global view of the castle and what remains of it. The project of the family of owners is not the complete restoration but rather the protection to save the Castle, allow visits and offer a piece of illustrated history for real, to visitors! Children, teenagers and adults will enjoy the visit because it is at several reading levels. Signs are placed throughout the castle in places that are interesting to understand and observe. There are also photos which illustrate the work and the progress made (before/after). It's practical for those (like me...) who have difficulty following the booklets and fascicles: all the information is there !

Part of the Castle is semi - troglodytic , that is to say that the rock was cut at the level of the lower rooms so that it becomes a stable foundation. When the castle was partially restructured in the 1920s, modernization closed certain rooms to change their function (storage of coal or machines). Backfilled rooms, collapsed elements, all the restoration work is also about understanding what happened!

The 13th ^century tower was accommodation; it is an independent structure but attached to the main building. It was remodeled in the ^20th century, this having distorted its original layout, research was carried out to restore it to its former floor levels. The same goes for certain paintings and coatings which were covered in the ^{20th century} , but through research and scratching, we were able to expose the original decorations !

Walk around the castle, following the signs and the suggested circuit. In season, activities complete this visit, notably the Opusculaires during a whole weekend in July.

We wish you a good visit to the Château de Salignac !

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