Château de Biron
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The Château de Biron is in the French commune of Biron in the valley of the Lède, a tributary of the Lot River in the département of Dordogne in Périgord, part of the region of Aquitaine.
[edit] History
It was the château from which the Gontaut-Biron took their name, their seat from the twelfth century. Biron was seized by the Cathars in 1211, retaken by Simon IV de Montfort the following year. The Plantagenets held it at times during the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Biron was erected as a duché-pairie in 1598, for Charles de Gontaut, created duc de Biron (1562-1602), the son of Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron (1524-1592), both Marshals of France..
The present château bears additions over the centuries that make a picturesque ensemble: a twelfth century keep, sixteenth-century living quarters, a chapel and vaulted kitchens. The commune purchased the Château de Biron in 1978, with a view to restoring the structure as a tourist draw.
Since 1928, the Château de Biron has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
