Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The château Henri IV de Bergerac, also known as the Peyrarède hotel or house Peyrarède, is a complex of buildings forming an island in the heart of the city. Located at the intersection of the rue de l'Ancien-Pont and Rue des Rois-de-France, it combines a body of stone-cut houses with a corbelled turret and a wood-paned façade dating back to the 15th century. These elements make it one of the few architectural testimonies of Bergerac's medieval and Renaissance history, despite subsequent transformations such as the division into 19th century dwellings.

The mansion was built in the early seventeenth century by the Peyrarède family, influential merchants who marked Bergerac's political and cultural life in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Among its members, Jean de Peyrarède distinguished himself as a poet between 1640 and 1650. The building, registered as a historical monument in 1947, thus illustrates both the architectural heritage and the social history of the region.

Since 1983, the Château Henri IV has been home to the Museum of Tobacco, unique in France and classified as a national interest. This museum traces the history of tobacco cultivation in the Dordogne Valley and preserves collections from the former Seita Gallery Museum in Paris. This cultural conversion emphasizes the adaptation of the monument to contemporary uses while preserving its historical heritage.

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