Places to visit: Château de Jumilhac

Château de Jumilhac is a true fairytale castle. Located just 24 minutes from us, it is worthy of a visit…

The towers and turrets have led to Jumilhac being described as having the most romantic roof in France. There is a myriad of turrets, the romantic theme continues in the interior of the building.

Chateau de Jumilhac is open all year, except for Christmas Day and New Year.

A bit of history for you: The first count of Jumilhac was an alchemist and whilst this was forbidden at the time he left clues of his alchemy in the chateau. These are explained on the guided tour and include clues on the roof itself. On the roof there are three angels, one represents masculine, one feminine and one neutral – these three states are important in alchemy. There is also amongst all the wonderful fairytale round turret roofs a tall chimney-like turret which, along with its position on the roof, looks like the kind used for an alchemist oven.

Parts of the Chateau de Jumilhac date back to the twelfth century. It was an important defensive chateau in the 13th century. During its history, it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Renaissance period parts of the castle were altered and made much more habitable with large rooms with lots of windows and beautiful wooden floors laid out in patterns. The kitchen has a large selection of copper pans and molds.

The chateau also has attractive terraces with French-style gardens. Continuing the alchemy theme the gardens have been laid out with a ‘gold garden’ and a ‘silver garden’.

Places to visit nearby

The Chateau de Jumilhac is on the ‘Route of Richard the Lionheart’. This route is a line of castles and villages who took advantage of Richard going off on a crusade to fortify their castles and towns against his return. Jumilhac is also on the 1001 chateaux route.

Near to the Chateau de Jumilhac in an ancient winery, there is a small museum dedicated to gold, the Galerie de l’Or. Here you can learn about the gold panning that took place in this area. It is possible to go panning for gold on the banks of the river l’Isle. Lessons take place twice a week in peak season.

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