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Origin and history

The castle of Jovelle, located on a rocky promontory at 144 meters above sea level near La Tour-Blanche (Dordogne), is a castle whose origins date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Its ruins, partially masked by vegetation, include a fortified entrance châtelet, a square corner tower with remains of machicoulis, and a renovated house in the 17th century. The Romanesque chapel, vaulted by a broken cradle with canonary arches, overlooks the site and preserves an axial Gothic bay. The ramparts, almost disappeared, remain only around the southern courtyard, where a 17th-century well testifies to late developments.

During the Hundred Years War, the castle would have welcomed the Black Prince for a short period, according to a local legend. In the 15th century, he served as headquarters at Charles VII for four months, highlighting his strategic role. At the time of the Revolution, part of the ramparts was destroyed, reducing the building to its present state: a set of ruins protected since 1948, including the castral chapel, commons and defensive elements like full archeries.

The site, a private property, illustrates medieval military architecture with its traces of machicolis, its mural chimneys in the ruined south wing, and its corridor serving the chapel's defence chamber. The noble families associated with the castle – Dejean de Jovelle, de La Croix and de Galard-Béarn – were successive owners. Today, the vestiges, though fragmentary, offer an overview of the transformations undergone from the Middle Ages to the modern era, between residential, religious and defensive functions.

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