Things to do in Beynac-et-Cazenac
Around Beynac-et-Cazenac, Notrebellefrance lists 19 tourist sites within 12 km, including 7 castles, 5 villages and 4 caves. Not to be missed: Beynac-et-Cazenac, Château de Castelnaud and Château de Beynac.
Beynac-et-Cazenac
Seat in the Middle Ages of one of the four baronies of the Périgord, the castle withstood every assault and was taken only by Richard the Lionheart and Simon de Montfort.
Château de Castelnaud
Facing the Château de Beynac, whose implacable rival it was in the endless conflicts that punctuate the history of the Middle Ages.
Château de Beynac
It is probably from the course of the Dordogne that the fortress looks most impressive.
Le Château de Fayrac
Château des Milandes
In the heart of the Black Périgord, the château des Milandes overlooks the Dordogne river. It was Lord François de Caumont who had this residence built in 1489 at the request of his wife, Claude de Cardaillac.
Les jardins de Marqueyssac
A classified site, the romantic and picturesque gardens of Marqueyssac offer more than 6 kilometres of shaded walks, lined with 150,000 hand-clipped century-old box trees, and enhanced by belvederes, rockeries, water trails and open-air theatres.
Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, ranked among the "Most Beautiful Villages of France", overlooking the confluence of the Dordogne and the Céou, characterised by its terraced layout climbed along little steep lanes, is a village of exceptional heritage richness.
Gabares Norbert
La Roque-Gageac
In the Middle Ages, La Roque-Gageac had 1,500 souls. At that time, the Dordogne supported the fishermen and gabariers of the port.
Château de Puymartin
Puymartin, built around 1270 and once surrounded below by a village of the same name, served as a border between France and England when the Hundred Years' War began; it was then pillaged, stripped of its crenellations, ramparts, towers and roofs.
Les Cabanes Du Breuil
Near the château de Puymartin, the exceptional ensemble of the Cabanes du Breuil illustrates the country of stones that old Périgord was, still very present in this farm where geese cackle peacefully.
Sarlat-la-Canéda
The town of Sarlat is a medieval town that reached its peak in the thirteenth century. The Carolingian abbey of Sarlat is the only one spared by the Vikings because it lay away from the Dordogne and its tributaries.
Grotte de domme
Domme
Ringed by ramparts, the thirteenth-century bastide tells a tumultuous past illustrated by its fortified gates and towers that served as prisons.
Château de Montfort
The château de Montfort stands literally on a rocky ledge overlooking the river and the cliffs below.
Château de Commarque
In the Vézère valley, on a wild site, the château de Commarque was built in the twelfth century by the abbots of Sarlat to counter the power of the Beynacs.
Grottes du Roc de Cazelle
Grotte de Font-de-Gaume
The last polychrome decorated cave still open to visitors in France, in the Vézère valley.
Grotte des Combarelles
A long engraved gallery in the Vézère valley, with many animal figures of Prehistory.