The Dordogne is the department of the Périgord, a land of prehistory, fine dining and châteaux, and one of the most visited regions in France thanks to its exceptional wealth of architectural and natural heritage. The Vézère Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its prehistoric cave art — Lascaux, Font-de-Gaume and Les Combarelles — runs alongside the Dordogne Valley, dotted with medieval castles that form one of the most remarkable collections of fortified structures in Europe.
Beynac and Castelnaud, enemy fortresses facing each other on either side of the Dordogne, perfectly embody the Franco-English rivalry of the Hundred Years’ War: the English at Castelnaud, the French at Beynac, the two sides fought over these strategic positions on the river for a century. Les Milandes, a Renaissance château that once belonged to Josephine Baker; Hautefort, a vast classical château with blue slate roofs; Biron, whose Gothic chapel is a listed historic monument… The Dordogne offers a concentrated showcase of French medieval and Renaissance architecture.
The bastides — Monpazier, ranked among the most beautiful in France, Domme, Beaumont, Molières — add to this panorama of castles a medieval urban dimension of rare coherence.