Château de Montclard

En un regard

Le château en bref

Overlooking the small valley of Saint-Georges-de-Montclard, the Château de Montclar (or Montclard) occupies a fortified site attested as early as the 11th century under the name "Castrum de Monte Clara", seat of a castellany that once extended over nine parishes of Périgord. Passing from the Mouleydier family to the Estissac family in the 15th century, it was largely rebuilt in dressed stone between 1480 and 1520, before passing by marriage to the House of La Rochefoucauld, of which François VI, author of the Maxims, was one of the descendants. The young Rabelais is said to have stayed there as secretary to Baron Louis d'Estissac in the early 16th century. Partly demolished during the Revolution to enlarge its forge — at one time a supplier to the Royal Navy —, turned into a stone quarry in the 19th century and then restored in 1880, the château passed through several successive owners before being bought in 1994. Today it retains a tall three-storey rectangular tower, pierced with mullioned windows, at the south-west corner of the main residential building.