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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The fort house of Reignac is an exceptional castle-falese, last example intact in France, located in Tursac in Dordogne. Located on the cliffside on the left bank of the Vézère, this strategic site has been occupied since the Upper Paleolithic, as evidenced by the Magdalenian cut flint discovered in 1952. The excavations revealed a continuous occupation until the Iron Age (Hallstatt final), with traces of troglodytic habitats rearranged in the Middle Ages.

Mentioned for the first time in 1386 as Rinhacum (property of Renius), the fort house was built during the Hundred Years' War as a refuge against looters. His lord, Jaquemet de Reignac, known for his cruelty, then exercised low justice under the authority of the troglodytic city next to the Saint Christophe Roque. In the 14th century, the old prehistoric shelters were cleared and the high facade, exploiting topography for an optimal defence: at 40 meters high, access is only possible from the front.

At the beginning of the 16th century (1508), openings were pierced in the facade, marking the adaptation of architecture to the arrival of firearms. Fortifications (breek, assumers, gunboats) are reinforced, reflecting the tensions of the League's wars. A 1667 Latin inscription (INMOTA MANEBIT, "it will remain unchanged") on a door attests to subsequent changes. The building, 25 meters long, combines stone-cut and small device, with 19 windows, some of them with sleds.

Habited until 1931, the fort house welcomed in 1915 Japanese painters Foujita and Kawashima, invited by Count Alphonse Claret of Fleurieu. Foujita lived there until February 1916 before joining Marzac Castle. Ranked a historical monument in 1964 (façades and roofs) and in 1966 (prehistorical building), it has been open to the public since 2006. Its interior, dug in the cliff, reveals seigneurial spaces (honor room, chapel, cachot) organized according to the Carolingian model (aula, capella, camera).

The site is also linked to legends such as that of Jaquemet de Reignac, nicknamed the "goat of Reignac" for his cruelty, mentioned in Jacquou le Croquant d'Eugène Le Roy. In the 21st century, the fort house attracted 65,000 annual visitors (2022), combining historical heritage, prehistoric exhibitions and paranormal folklore.

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