Puymartin Castle (France)

The Puymartin Castle is between Sarlat and Les Eyzies, in the center of the Perigord Noir region of the Dordogne department. Like many of the region's castles, the castle has played its key role during the Hundred Years War, and then in religious wars.

A village was built around the castle, but it is no longer alive.

A Brief History of the castle

The Puymartin castle was originally built in the late 13th century, although significant reconstruction work took place in the 15th century, after the war years One hundred and a long period of neglect had left the castle in poor condition.

After changing hands several times over the centuries, first in English and French, and later between the Protestants and Catholics of Sarlat, the castle was again left damaged by the evidence of the religious wars.

The White Lady

The legend tells us that the ghost of a young woman dressed in white sometimes appears in the castle. And 'the ghost of Teresa de Saint-Clar, locked in a small room in the castle for 15 years to her husband after he surprised her with his lover (who was himself executed).

It was never to leave the room before his death, the food is passed through a trap door in the ceiling until the end of his life.

The castle has undergone its last great controversy in the 17th century - as part of a family disagreement over inheritance, when Jean de Saint-Clar and his sister Suzanne spent just 40 years arguing over whose castle was - Suzanne eventually he took control.

By the 18th century the castle was again abandoned and falling into disrepair. The family of the current owners took control of the castle in the 19th century and once again began the long process of restoration - a process that included enough substantial changes to the appearance of Chateau du Puymartin.