The Château de Commarque is a

hillside castle A hillside castle is a castle built on the side of a hill above much of the surrounding terrain but below the summit itself. It is thus a type of hill castle and emerged in Europe in the second half of the 11th century. As a result of the particu ...

located between Sarlat and

Les Eyzies Les Eyzies (; ) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and terri ...

, in the '' commune'' of Les Eyzies in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

department in southern

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 ...

. It stands on a rocky outcrop in the valley of the river La Beune in the

Vézère The Vézère (; ) is a 211-km-long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to the Dordogne (river), Dordogne. Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the Massif Central. It flows into the Dordog ...

valley region.

History

The castle was founded during the 12th century, or possibly slightly prior to it, upon the request of the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

s of Sarlat. At this time the Château de Commarque was only a wooden tower, and its primary concerns were to protect the abbey, to discourage the ambitions of the Beynac family and to ensure the safety of the valley. It was placed at the crossing of two important commercial roads: the road from

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

and the road from

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

to Bergerac. After the Beynac family took the control of the castle, the wooden tower was replaced by a stone

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 ...

. The fortification was enhanced, and the keep was gradually heightened until the 18th century. The Beynacs, lords of the area, dwelt in the keep. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, it was captured by the English who held the place for several years. Later during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, the castle was taken by the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

s, due to the Beynacs being

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

partisans. Abandoned in the 18th century, the castle was bought in 1972 by Hubert de Commarque who began the rescue of the site. The castle has been undergoing restoration since 1994. It has been listed since 1943 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 ...

. There is a prehistoric cave under the castle. Château de Commarque - 10.jpg, The castle. Château de Commarque - 08.jpg, The keep's tower. Château de Commarque - 06.jpg, Façade of a ruined building, with the Knights Templar cross at the top. Château de Commarque - 04.jpg, Oven's House and remains of a gable. Sireuil, vue sur le château de Laussel depuis la fenêtre à colonnettes du donjon roman du château de Commarque.jpg, View of Laussel castle through a window in the keep.

References

External links

Commarque

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Commarque, Chateau de Ruined castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Monuments historiques of Dordogne Historic house museums in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Museums in Dordogne

History

See also

References

External links