When the Messires from the Castle of Castelnau conceived to feud with the barons from the Castle of Beinac, they, of course, could not even think about what would happen 800 years later, and dreamed of only one thing: how to gain more supporters and, with all their might, overcome their opponents …
View of Beynak Castle and Feyrak Castle. In the photo he is in the left corner.
Moreover, opponents in the truest sense of the word - after all, Beinak Castle stood directly opposite the Castle of Castelnau. On the contrary, however, not so close. And then the owners of Castelnau decided to approach the enemy themselves, as far as the boundaries of their feudal possessions allowed, and thereby strengthen their position. No sooner said than done! On the very border, right halfway between Beinac and Castelnau, in the same XIII century they erect a guard castle, which has survived to this day, although only cellars with Gothic vaults and a round tower remain from the past.
Feyrac Castle. From this angle, everyone usually photographs him, because a sign with a warning inscription interferes with getting closer.
This plate is here.
In the XIV century, the castle was called "Feyrak towers". Apparently there was a garrison headed by a seneschal, who day and night watched what was happening in the castle of Beinak. But in 1342, Raoul de Camon, brother of Bertrand de Camon, gave it as a dowry to his daughter, whom he gave in marriage to some small local knight. And he in an instant became the owner of the castle and already served his father-in-law not for fear, but for conscience. During the Hundred Years War, the "Towers of Fayrac" still served as an outpost of Castelnau Castle, which was very important. After all, his lords supported the king of England, while the lords of Beinac castle stood for the king of France. And, of course, he had nothing to do with the Cathars. They were done away with in these places long before the first stone was laid at its foundation.
Bridge over the Dordogne river and Feyrac castle.
The road to the castle.
In 1459 the castle passed to Leonard de Projet. It's just that the Count of Périgord, wishing to reward his comrade-in-arms for valor, endowed him with “the gift of the Treille d'Affeyrac lands”, and to make everything legal, he married again the next heiress of the castle, so that she would not be bored without a master and husband. At the same time, an entrance with a drawbridge leading to the courtyard was added to the castle.
The castle is surrounded by forest on all sides.
Do you want to see the castle from a bird's eye view? Get in the balloon gondola and fly. So far, no private property is foreseen in the air.
In documents from 1529 one can find evidence that Raymond de Prouchet, Baron of Fajrac, decorated the inner chambers of the castle and added a house in a style reminiscent of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance.
We approach the castle and see that inside it is very comfortable, and there is a large tennis court nearby.
Here it is - from a height. There are four cars at the gate. The owners go somewhere or do they go to the owners … Who knows?
And again, the next heiress of the castle marries a certain Gin de Blagnier, or Blancher, the councilor of parliament, who once drove through the castle, and stayed in it. In this marriage, two sons were born, Jean de Blancher, Baron Fayrac, and Pierre, who made a career in magistracy and were counselors in the Bordeaux parliament. And everything happened in the same way as the immortal Father Dumas wrote about it in his novel The Three Musketeers (the place where D'Artagnan talks with Musketeer at the bedside of the wounded Porthos): Jean became a Protestant, and Pierre remained a Catholic. During the "Wars of the Faith", Fayrak belonged to Protestants along with the castles of Castelnau, Beinac, Dom, Miland, Saint-Cyprien, Serre, Campian, Slignac, Paluel, Garrigue and Montfort. Jean was lucky and he survived, although he was a Huguenot, but Pierre was killed "on the night of Saturday, September 16, 1580" in accordance with the annals of the canon of Syroil. Shortly thereafter, Jean de Blancher married Simone de Vivant, daughter of Geoffroy de Vivant "the Warrior" (the same one that was discussed in the first part of this material), captain of the castle of Castelnau. After the capture of Domme, Geoffroy de Vivant entrusted the protection of the city to his son-in-law.
As you can see, the castle is well fortified: there is a moat between the walls, and a drawbridge leads to the old part of it. The five-story tower with windows is the newest building, although it is already quite a few years old. A square tower is visible behind the roof, and so on it - take a closer look, two satellite dishes are visible at once. That is, the owners of the castle of progress are not at all shy. And it is obvious that they have both television and the Internet at their disposal!
In 1789, the then owners of the castle emigrated, and itself was declared state property and sold under the hammer. It was bought by a lawyer from Sarlat named Geiro, who rebuilt the castle at a substantial expense. Then the castle belonged to the composer Fernand de la Tombel, who continued to restore it. The castle was registered as a historical monument on March 31, 1928. During the years of the German occupation, makizars periodically lived in it. Well, now, like its famous neighbors, Beinac, Castelnau, Miland and Marquessac, it has become part of a tourist complex known as the "Valley of Six Castles".
Look what it is - Feyrac castle. It would be nice to buy such a possession, especially since in the nearest villages "everything is there." There is a delicatessen shop, there is a jewelry store, three restaurants of French cuisine, and what else could people who live in such a castle need? For entertainment, you can open the "Restaurant of Russian cuisine" and feed visiting tourists with borscht and dumplings, as well as pancakes with red and black caviar and salted milk mushrooms for vodka. But as you like, you can just lie on the tower, spit down on the grass and just sunbathe, sipping Burgundy …
But only if you decide to visit it, then you will fail. Because, although this castle is a historical monument, it, as well as the land around it, belongs to a private person, that is, the owner of the castle. And it, this very face, unlike many other owners of castles, who happily lead tourists through them, acting as guides, does not want to let anyone into their house. So you can only admire it from a distance, in a local museum (model) or from a balloon basket.
In the local museum you can see a model of this castle …
Including from the side from which it is never removed.
There is also Chateau de Miland nearby - a beautiful castle … not a castle, but, in a word, something similar to it. It is known about him that it was built in the Renaissance style in 1489, when Claude de Cardallac asked her husband, Baron Castelnau, to build for her something not so big and "medieval", which was their family nest - Castelnau castle.
Chateau de Miland.
And the "castle" was built and until 1535 was their main residence of the family, and then completely became their second home, even when they began to spend more and more time in Versailles. During the revolution, the castle was confiscated and changed owners periodically, until in 1870 it was acquired by the wealthy industrialist Clavier. He laid out a beautiful French garden at the castle, and for some reason added a square tower to the structure itself. Then the castle was sold again, but in 1947 it was bought not by anyone, but by Josephine Baker herself, a popular black dancer and star of the Parisian stage, an American by her origin and one of the brightest women of the twentieth century.
Banana Skirt by Josephine Baker.
And this is herself - "the black pearl of the Parisian variety show." (Photo of 1926)
Today, the castle is open to the public and houses her museum, which displays a collection of her performance outfits, including the famous banana skirt that has become her signature costume for many years. Tourists here, among other things, are expected to see a falconry show. And here, 100-year-old magnolias grow and one of the most beautiful views of the Dordogne river valley opens up.
