Presentation
The 11th-12th centuries saw a proliferation of stone-built castles in the Périgord region, including Miremont. Miremont was built in a strategic location, at the crossroads of the Sarlat-Périgueux and Brive-la-Gaillarde-Bergerac communications routes, enabling control and taxation of people and goods. The rocky spur on which it is built dominates the Manaurie and Brungidou valleys. It is undoubtedly its best defense system to the south, while to the north stretches a plain protected by a moat. A village soon grew up at the foot of the spur, under the protection of the lord.
A major defensive system was put in place: a first wall encircled the castle. Its curtain walls incorporate a keep with flat buttresses to the north and bastions to the south and west. The moat protecting the more vulnerable northern flank is three meters wide at the drawbridge and twelve meters deep. The village, enclosed by a second wall punctuated by gates to control access, rests on this inner wall. Traces of troglodyte dwellings are still visible in the rock. Périgord was to suffer many wars: the Hundred Years' War (which lasted almost 300 years in this region), the Wars of Religion, the Crusaders' Revolt...
The château was to live to the rhythm of battles and changing customs. Minor alterations were carried out in the 13th / 14th centuries, while in the 15th / 16th centuries, the keep and bastions underwent major changes (redefinition of storeys and directions of circulation, mullioned openings). At the same time, a new château was built in the western part of the courtyard, more in keeping with the tastes of the time: wide openings, light, space, etc. Today, its surface area has almost disappeared, but texts indicate that it contained more than 25 rooms!
Like many buildings, Miremont bears the scars of the French Revolution. The château was emptied of its contents, then used as a quarry for the surrounding housing and public works (the construction of the viaduct below is sometimes mentioned).
Since then, there have been few changes to the building. It seems that Armand Viré (French speleologist, archaeologist and dowser) worked on the château in the 1930s. He is said to have carried out excavations and pendulum research, but the results never came to light. Today, everything remains to be discovered!
