France · 12th century
The Château de Roquetaillade (French: [ʃɑto d(ə) ʁɔktɑjad]) is a castle in Mazères, France, near Bordeaux, in the department of Gironde.
Roquetaillade means "carved in the rock". It is situated on a rocky spur under which are a series of caves inhabited by man since prehistoric times - there are artefacts in the ticket office. Oral tradition says that Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, gathered an army here in the 8th century and built a wooden castle. Over the next 400 years, there were periods of unrest and invasions, and the castle evolved. In time, stone replaced wood, and the fortifications were strengthened. 11th-century archives mention for the first time Roquetaillade as a fortified village with its feudal system.
In 1305, Bertrand de Goth was elected Pope as Clement V, the first French Pope in Avignon. Thanks to papal finances and with the permission of King Edward I of England, he built seven castles for himself and his family in the Bazas area, south of Bordeaux, his native country. They are called the "Clementine Castles" and include the new castle of Roquetaillade (le Château Neuf) built in 1306 by his nephew Gaillard de Lamothe. Its architecture is similar to that built by Master James of Saint George (Maître Jacques de Saint-Georges) at the same time in North Wales, including Conwy, Harlech, Caernarfon and Beaumaris.
This new castle has a square plan with six towers and a central keep. It is technically perfect architecture that marks the apogee of "defensive science" before the arrival of gunpowder. The end of the Middle Ages was the beginning of a unified France and the centralisation of power in Paris by the king. The feudal system died out and, with the arrival of peace, Roquetaillade had no defensive purpose. The village was abandoned, and the military building was slowly transformed into a dwelling.
In 1599, the Lansacs modified the first floor with windows replacing the arrow slits and the old guard rooms transformed into fine living rooms, decorated by the first Renaissance fireplaces of the Bordeaux region.
In 1865, the Mauvezins employed the renowned architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc to modernise their old building. Despite his many projects, Viollet-le-Duc accepted because, in his eyes, Roquetaillade was the perfect castle.
Text adapted from “Château de Roquetaillade” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Roquetaillade ranks #744 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #68 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 8,344 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →