France · 13th century
The Château de Montastruc is a French castle, château, in the commune of Lamonzie-Montastruc, in the department of Dordogne, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in France. It was built in the 13th century and modified in the 15th and 18th centuries.
The Château de Montastruc is located in the region of Périgord Pourpre, in the southern part of the department of Dordogne, 100 meters west of the D21 departmental road. It sits on a rocky outcrop northwest of the village of Lamonzie-Montastruc, on the banks of the River Caudeau. The little river valley, at the foot of Montastruc, keeps numerous traces of human habitat from prehistory to the period of the Roman Empire.
The first owners were the family of d'Abzac de la Douze in the 13th century. Its name comes from the Latin derived mons adstructum, “fortified mount” or also “mount under the stars”.
It is now privately owned by the family of Raynaud de Fitte. Philippe Reynaud de Fitte and his wife, Ségolène de Marcellus, bought the dilapidated and almost ruined castle in 1998. A major renovation work started in 2000 by restoring the main castle, its leaking roofs with big holes, facades, windows and interiors. The restoration of the ramparts and restitutions of the machicolations of the bastion supporting the castle and the main courtyard was done, as well as of the access bridge and ramparts supporting it.
Also the 18th century stables were restored. By 2025 the moat, its hydraulic system controlling the water, the west facade, the prehistoric caves and the Gallo-Roman bastions still remain to be restored.
Partially listed as a historical monument in 1973, it has been fully listed since 2001 by the Ministry of Culture of France.
The site has been inhabited since ancient times. The castle was built on a rocky outcrop that sheltered prehistoric cave dwellings. The medieval castle overlooks the rock.
In the 14th century, the castle was one of the fiefs of the Abzac de la Douze family, one of whose members was Lieutenant General of the King of England in Guyenne. He was beheaded in Limoges in 1438, and his castle was razed after the Hundred Years' War on the orders of King Charles VII of France. After being returned to the family in 1449 upon their submission to royal authority, the castle was rebuilt in 1471. Montastruc was besieged by Blaise de Montluc in 1568, and two cannons forced him to surrender.
Text adapted from “Château de Montastruc” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Montastruc ranks #7,739 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #736 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1250, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 9 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 6 of 29 on the Dordogne castle route, Bergerac to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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