Photos: 94 chateaux open their doors to visitors in Dordogne

Almost 100 chateaux in Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) are to open their doors to the public from next weekend, giving visitors a chance to look around many impressive properties that are usually private.

The 94 properties - including chateaux, manor houses, and country piles - will be open from April 19 to May 4, as part of the department’s fifth annual edition of the Châteaux en Fête festival. 

The departmental tourism committee, which is organising the event, hopes to attract 100,000 visitors this year. Last year, there were more than 90,000, reports France Bleu.

This year there are more than 17 new participants taking part, with many private owners joining the event in order to meet visitors who are passionate about heritage, and to share their experience of owning - and in most cases, restoring and maintaining - such unusual properties.

Among the new participants this year are the Château de Fayolle in Tocane-Saint-Âpre, the Château de Lusignac, the Château de Septfonds in Trélissac, and the Château de Salignac (pictured below).

The event also seeks to ‘kick off’ tourism in the Périgord Noir region for the year, attracting visitors to the area before the peak high season. 

“Châteaux en Fête lasts 16 days, spanning three weekends, with two public holidays and two weeks of school holidays,” said Sylvie Chevallier, vice-president of the departmental council in charge of tourism and president of the departmental tourism committee, to France Bleu. 

“This allows the public to enjoy the 94 sites at their disposal.”

There are also events organised throughout the festival, for adults and children, including:

• Night-time tours

• Historical shows

• Treasure hunts 

• Ghost hunts, etc.

A full list of events can be found on the official Dordogne website, as well as a full list of the chateaux taking part (with extra history and information available, and the specific events taking place at each). Some chateaux may offer tours and events with English or Spanish translations.

‘People still feel that the castle is theirs’

Another new participant for this year is Château de Javerlhac, located in the village of Javerlhac-et-la-Chapelle-Saint-Robert, on the banks of the Bandiat river.

Dating from the 16th century, it has an unusual hexagonal tower, and is one of the few Renaissance buildings in Dordogne.

It was badly affected by a fire set by English invaders, before being rebuilt by Dauphin Pastoureau, a wealthy local from Nontron, from 1499 to 1505.

Today, it is owned by Marie-Claude Preschez and her husband, after having been bought by Marie-Claude's great-grandfather in 1815. The couple uses it as a second home, and lives on the first floor only, because the ground floor has suffered flood damage over the centuries.

Mrs Preschez said she never wanted to open the home to the public at first, and was persuaded to do so by the tourist office. 

“I thought it was a nice initiative for the whole department and I was happy to join in opening up all these properties,” she explained to France Bleu, although she warns that the house “does not have central heating”.

“I think the people of Javerlhac-et-la-Chapelle-Saint-Robert are very happy [about the opening],” she said, recalling that there had been more community events in the village in the past, such as a local fair. 

“I thought to myself, maybe we do need to open up the castle after all, because there isn't much going on in Javerlhac. [Local] people still feel that the castle is theirs,” she said.