Jardins du Château de Jumilhac Stroll in an idyllic setting in Périgord Vert

In the 17th century, the Marquis de Jumilhac wanted to modernize his castle and take it back to ancestral times. Present at the Court of Versailles, he had to create gardens worthy of his rank; these were 12 terraces which, reshaping the rocky spur serving as a base for the castle, descended by degrees to the Isle, running 45 m below.

These gardens were preserved until the dawn of the 20th century. Alas, the vagaries of the First War would undermine this titanic work to the point of seeing them sold little by little for the benefit of vegetable gardens, orchards or wheat plots, in the same way as the 120 orange trees in containers and even... the orangery! Only the first two terraces which overlook the valley where the roar of the deer resonates in the fall remain attached to the castle today.

In 1995, the summer drought revealed a St Andrew's cross which outlined the diagonals of the square of grass forming the 2nd terrace. This witness to a more glorious past encouraged the current Marquis of Jumilhac to kick off a vast project aimed at renovating the gardens as presented in the model of the castle dated 1777.

Reorganized around the central basin while respecting the concepts of the Renaissance and the principles of Le Nôtre, they trace two mysterious themes associated with the history of the place: gold, exploited 2 centuries BC by the Lémovices and the alchemy, studied by the budding steelworker Antoine Chapelle, 1st Count of Jumilhac (1597).

Thus, the Ors d'un Jardin in their symmetrical aspect, reveal through flower beds protected by a bower, a plant labyrinth and its dark room, a rose garden lined with pruned boxwood (renovation in 2011) and from a mini solar system to flowery planets, two fabulous worlds at the origin of hopes, riches, discoveries, knowledge, techniques... but also madness, disillusionment, misery, conflicts and persecutions!

Then go and meet them all year round on an independent visit coupled with the Château or independently, with or without a quiz, during Château opening hours or by appointment at 06.09.61.78.40.

• Adults €4
• Reduced €3
• Children €2