Beynac, medieval fortress
Ranked as “Most Beautiful Villages of France”, Beynac is one of the more typical village of the area, hooked up to the rock, along the Dordogne river. For ages, this unique situation was used for Dordogne control that was an invasion route. But not only ! It was also a circulation route that favored the medieval city for trade when farmers, textile workers and basket makers, fishermen and “gabarre” drivers filled with life the edges of the river.
Its with the union of Alienor d’Aquitaine and the King of England, Henri Plantagenêt, that Beynac became English as the rest of Aquitaine. The fortress lived numerous battles as the Crusade against inhabitants of Albi, the Hundred Years War, and religious war. After, the population ended up in a big poverty and the revolt rumbled in the countryside. The uprising of the farmers “les croquants” was running. This action went on a hundred years and when it ended, the suppression was terrible ; Beynac was cut in 2 parts : people of the fortress and the ones of the village.
We visited it for you !
If you’re staying in the area for the first time, you have to go to Beynac ! You can choose to park your car in the little parking on the foot of the village and climb it by walk until the Château, or visiting it in “gabarres”. These are shifts with flat bottom that people used to carry salt and wine from Bordeaux. After this shift trip, we advise you to park your car in the big parking at the top of the village, to visit the Château without having to climb.
The Château is a magnificent edifice but doesn’t contain any period furniture, maybe just some tapestries. So we advise you the guided tour that will allows you to learn a lot on the castle history and life.
