Château de Ventadour
The Château de Ventadour is in the commune of Moustier-Ventadour in the department of Corrèze (Limousin).
Situation
Placed on a rocky outcrop overhanging the valley of Luzège, only few vestiges remain on the site of this feudal castle, which is still remarkably wild. The existing enclosure follows the contour of the plateau thus protecting a place of 170 m length and 30 m wide at its maximum. One finds inside some traces of a chapel and a residence, an important round tower and a section of wall seeming to be that of a square keep.
History
The castle built in the 11th century, probably altered during several periods of construction and rebuilding spreading out essentially from the 12th to the 15th century, controlled the viscounty of Ventadour whose capitals were Égletons and Ussel. Of viscounty until 1350, it was transformed into county by Philippe de Valois, then in Duchy-Peerage in 1578. It belonged thus to the first lineage of Ventadour, resulting from the lineage of Comborn, until 1472, date of the marriage of the last heiress with Louis de Lévis, baron de la Voulte. After Lévis-Ventadour, the stronghold belonged, still by marriage, to Rohans; and to Rohan-Soubises-Ventadour, passed to the Prince of Condé, who ignored the castle.
Château de Ventadour (Ardèche)
The Château de Ventadour is a ruined castle in the commune of Tournon-sur-Rhône in the Ardèche département of France. Situated to the south east of Meyras, the castle has architectural elements dating from the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Geography
The castle is situated 74 m above the confluence of Fontolière and Ardèche rivers, on a rocky outcrop, at about 373 m altitude
History
The castle was built in the 12th century when the fief of Meyras belonged to the Solignacs. In 1195, the lord of Montlaur married Miracle de Solignac and her brother, Béraud de Solignac, relinquished to them the fief. The Solignacs left at the end of the 14th century, and in 1472 the lord of Meyras married Blanche de Ventadour. The castle was not inhabited again and, at the time of the French Revolution, was described as destroyed. After the Revolution, it was largely used as a stone quarry. A painting by Jules Thibon, Les ruines du château de Ventadour, painted in 1860 and in a private collection, shows its state in the 19th century.
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