France · Restored
Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
The Château de Castelnaud is a medieval fortress above the Dordogne in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Périgord, southern France. Built in the Middle Ages and long contested during the Albigensian Crusade and the Hundred Years' War, it was later abandoned and has since been restored and houses a museum of medieval warfare.
Its prime
1350
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1350
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a rocky promontory above the Dordogne, the fortress presents a compact silhouette dominated by a tall rectangular donjon with a steep pyramidal/slate roof and an adjacent large cylindrical tower. Thick beige limestone curtain walls follow the rockline with battlemented parapets and arrow slits; a cluster of steep‑roofed stone service buildings terraces the hillside below. In its prime the ensemble reads as a complete, continuous medieval fortification tightly integrated with the village slope.
Its story
The story of Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle.
The Château de Castelnaud rose above the Dordogne to face its rival, the Château de Beynac, across the river. The oldest documents naming it date to the 13th century, during the Albigensian Crusade, when its Cathar castellan was Bernard de Casnac; Simon de Montfort took the castle and installed a garrison, and when Bernard retook it he hanged them all.
During the Hundred Years' War the castellans of Castelnaud owed their allegiance to the Plantagenets, while the sieurs de Beynac across the river held to the king of France. The fortress was afterwards abandoned bit by bit until, by the French Revolution, it stood a ruin; it has since been restored and houses a museum of medieval warfare.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1350.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle — including 1 interior: hall with siege engines and arms. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1350 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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