France · 12th century
Château de la Roque ranks #4,419 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #364 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 763 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,259 times in the last 60 days, more than 57% of the atlas. 16 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. It is one of the 45 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Dordogne. It is stop 14 of 29 on the Dordogne castle route, Bergerac to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
The Château de la Roque, or the Château de la Roque des Péagers, is a château located in Meyrals in the Périgord in the Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was constructed in the 12th century, and modified in the 13th and 16th century.
The archbishop of Paris, Christophe de Beaumont du Repaire (1703-1781), was born in this château and was later sent in exile to it by Louis XV for having tried to convince him to give up his mistress Madame de Pompadour.
The château was enrolled as an historic monument on 5 November 1927, and the frescoes from the 16th century decorating the oratory were classified on 1 October 1963.
The Château de la Roque was built on a defensive site over ancient caves on the flank of a steep hill which dominates the valley of the Moulan River, today an inconspicuous stream. Access to the interior courtyard is through an entrance châtelet. The different parts of the château are topped by a slate roof and enclose a courtyard with round towers.
Text adapted from “Château de la Roque” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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