Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The château du Claux, also known as château du Claud, is a noble den located in the Black Perigord, on a wooded hillside between the combes of Line and Eyvigues, in Salignac-Eyvigues (Dordogne). Built in the 14th century, it was occupied by the English in 1381 and then reduced to ruins after the Hundred Years' War. Its major reconstruction took place between the late 15th and early 16th centuries, giving it a hybrid architecture combining medieval dungeon, circular staircase tower and square wings. An outer dovecote was added in the 17th century.

The castle was the seat of a right of high justice over the village of Eyvignes in the 18th century. In 1756 Jean Danglars-Bassignac (or Jean Danglars), Brigadier General under the Revolution, Mayor of Eyvignes and General Councillor, died there in 1836. As a successor property to the families of Salignac, Vigier, Reillac de Montmège, d'Anglars and Beaupuy de Génis, it was protected by several measures of classification to historical monuments between 1949 and 2001, covering today the whole estate and its cadastral plots.

The building, always private and not open to visit, presents remarkable elements such as a rectangular mâchicoulis dungeon, a chapel in a round tower, and interiors decorated with French ceilings, cariatides and carved chimneys. Its circular dovecote, located to the west, and its wooded lands complete a classified architectural ensemble, testifying to its historical importance in Périgord.

The successive protections (registration in 1949, partial classification in 1956, extensions in 2000 and 2001) underline its heritage value. The castle illustrates the evolution of noble dens into seigneurial residences, while preserving traces of medieval conflicts, such as its castle, remains of a double disappeared enclosure.

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