France · 16th century
The Château de Bonaguil (French pronunciation: [ʃato d(ə) bɔnaɡil]; "Castle of Bonaguil"; Occitan: Castèl de Bonaguil) is a castle in the French commune of Saint-Front-sur-Lémance, Lot-et-Garonne, owned by the neighbouring commune of Fumel. It has been classified a monument historique (historic monument) since 1862.
It was built in the 13th century, but was entirely restructured at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries by Bérenger de Roquefeuil, who added all of the defensive improvements of the end of the Middle Ages. A marvel of military architecture covering 7,500 m2, incorporating the latest developments in artillery (both for defence and in adapting the defences for protection against it), it was, however, obsolete when completed. It was never attacked.
The name derives from bonne aiguille (good needle) and refers to the defensive site: a steep, rocky promontory perfectly suited to the siting of a castle.
Text adapted from “Château de Bonaguil” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Bonaguil ranks #1,645 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #130 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1600, it is older than 31% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,005 times in the last 60 days, more than 83% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. It is one of the 45 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Dordogne. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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