Chateau De Montbrun DournazacChateau De Montbrun Dournazac
©Chateau De Montbrun Dournazac|Office de Tourisme Pays de Nexon - Monts de Châlus
Montbrun Castle,AN ARCHITECTURAL TREASURE

Montbrun Castle

In Dournazac, in the heart of the Périgord Limousin Natural Park, set amidst chestnut groves, you’ll find this fabulous 12th and 15th century fortress, the Château de Montbrun, just around the bend in the road. Standing on the edge of a moat-like pond, reflecting its singular silhouette, it is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable châteaux on the Richard the Lionheart route, and one of the most photographed in the Limousin! Don’t know it yet? Let us be your guide!

A typical medieval castle

If you were asked to draw a medieval castle, you’d undoubtedly come up with the silhouette of Château de Montbrun!

It’s the ideal model of a fortified castle: a dwelling flanked by four round towers at the corners, pierced by slender, slender windows, with a parapet walk with battlements and merlons, a rectangular central courtyard, a high central Romanesque keep with machicolations, all surrounded by a moat-like pond. It’s the castle of our childhood dreams! All that’s missing is a drawbridge and a few enchanters, knights and princesses!

9 centuries of history

The present-day fortress was built in 1179 by Lord Pierre Brun de Montbrun, 20 years before the death of the famous King Richard the Lionheart, who was wounded during the siege of Château de Châlus-Chabrol just a few kilometers away.

An initial fire ravaged the stone castle, but the Romanesque keep, “Le Grand Jacques”, a 35-meter-high square tower, remained. Almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th century, the château was ransacked and pillaged during the French Revolution and restored in the 19th century. It suffered a second fire in 1917, this time undergoing extensive restoration to become the château we know today.

The interior of the château has been listed as a historic monument since 1946, and the exterior and grounds have been listed since 1990.

Richly appointed interiors

Today, Château de Montbrun is privately owned by a Dutchman, who has spent the last thirty years restoring it to its former glory using the finest materials: Italian marble, Murano crystal, carefully selected 15th-century furniture, etc. It comprises 32 luxurious rooms on 3500m²: a large kitchen, some 15 bedrooms all with private shower rooms, several reception rooms and lounges, a meeting/conference room, a music room, a billiard room, a remarkable two-storey library containing over 4000 books… The life of a château!

Discover this majestic place

Good to know

Good to know

A flagship heritage site on the Richard the Lionheart route, it’s not for nothing that it was chosen to be one of the 4 Limousin sites represented at the France miniature park in the Paris region.

Good to know

Château de Montbrun was also used in the cult film Les Visiteurs, where it is seen on a wooded hill to represent the castle of the promise of the famous Godefroy de Montmirail.

More castles to visit in Haute-Vienne here!

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