Puycharnaud Castle
Puycharnaud Castle
The history of this house is intimately linked to the history of the nobility of the north of the department and more particularly to the families of La Ramière and Malet. La Ramière are in the sixteenth century Protestants, and are notably lieutenants of Gaspard de Coligny, the Huguenot chief against whom the night of St. Bartholomew in 1572 was largely directed, the family of La Remière converted to Catholicism under the reign of Henry IV whose lord of La Ramière was a close relation. And it is at this time that the heir of this family will marry the daughter of the one who was the master of Puycharnaud and his land, a Gascon Pierre Emery. The place carries trace of its old Gascon masters since the name of Puycharnaud comes from Gascon Pecharnaud (one finds such a place not far from Clairac, in the Lot-et-Garonne, this stronghold was besides property of Emery). The fief of the family will grow considerably when in the eighteenth century, the heiress of the lords of Piegut, great masters of the region at this time, will marry a member of the royal family. This daughter of the Pompadour family (lords of Piegut) went to live at the court, and to ensure her lifestyle she gradually sold the lands of her fief. On the eve of the Revolution, La Ramière benefited and controlled a territory stretching from Nontron to Haute Vienne. The Revolution in 1789, does not affect the Dordogne, Puycharnaud pass this period without damage. In 1870, a huge fire ravage the castle, one wonders then whether to build a new or restore the old. The chatelaine of the time decided to part with her land to finance the construction of a new castle, including thirty rooms, on the models of the house of a friend of hers who had a castle of 18th century in Tourraine. Then, the game of weddings made that it is the De Malet who became masters of the place and they continued to live in the castle of Puycharnaud until the 1960s when they had sold a large majority of their land to ensure their lifestyle.
Château de Puycharnaud 24360 Saint Estèphe, private property, can not be visited.
Wikipedia
