The Château de Châlus-Chabrol ( Occitan Limousin : ''Chasteu de Chasluç-Chabròl'') is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the '' commune'' of

Châlus Châlus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region in western France. History Richard I of England, Richard I, King of England was siege, bes ...

in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The castle dominates the town of Châlus. It consists today of an isolated circular

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

(12th century) and a residential building constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries, enlarged in the 17th century. The castle protected the southern approach to

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

and the north–south route between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, as well as the ancient east–west route linking the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. It is most famous for the death of

King Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

, who died there while besieging the castle in 1199 from a crossbow bolt shot, according to legend, by one of the defenders called Bertrand de Gourdon. His entrails are buried in the castle chapel. The opening of the 1976 film ''

Robin and Marian ''Robin and Marian'' is a 1976 romantic adventure film from Columbia Pictures, shot in Panavision and Technicolor, that was directed by Richard Lester and written by James Goldman after the legend of Robin Hood. The film stars Sean Connery as Rob ...

'' was set at the château de Chalus-Chabrol but filmed elsewhere. The castle's owners included

Charlotte of Albret Charlotte of Albret (1480 – 11 March 1514), Dame de Châlus, was a wealthy French noblewoman of the Albret family. She was the sister of King John III of Navarre and the wife of the widely notorious Cesare Borgia, whom she married in 1499. She w ...

and Louise Borgia, wife and daughter respectively of

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

. Château de Chalus-Chabrol has been listed as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

since 1925. File:Château de Châlus en 1460.jpg, The castle in 1460 File:Châlus château (1).JPG, General view File:Gisant en mémoire de Richard Coeur de Lion à Châlus.jpg, Memorial to King

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalus-chabrol, chateau de Ruined castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Monuments historiques of Haute-Vienne

See also

References

External links