France · 11th century
The Château de Châlus-Chabrol (Occitan Limousin : Chasteu de Chasluç-Chabròl) is a castle in the commune of Châlus in the département of Haute-Vienne, France.
The castle dominates the town of Châlus. It consists today of an isolated circular keep (12th century) and a residential building constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries, enlarged in the 17th century.
The castle protected the southern approach to Limoges and the north–south route between Paris and Spain, as well as the ancient east–west route linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
It is most famous for the death of King Richard the Lionheart, who died there while besieging the castle in 1199 from a crossbow bolt shot, according to legend, by one of the defenders called Bertrand de Gourdon. His entrails are buried in the castle chapel. The opening of the 1976 film Robin and Marian was set at the château de Chalus-Chabrol but filmed elsewhere.
The castle's owners included Charlotte of Albret and Louise Borgia, wife and daughter respectively of Cesare Borgia.
Château de Chalus-Chabrol has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1925.
Text adapted from “Château de Châlus-Chabrol” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Châlus-Chabrol ranks #1,177 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #93 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1100, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 436 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,688 times in the last 60 days, more than 91% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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