These castles, as they are today, are characterized by the combination of various architectural periods.īastides were created between the 13th and 14th century and located in the southwest of the département (country of Dropt). The construction of these castles extends from the 11th Century to the French Revolution. In Dordogne, there are over 1,000 castles, manors and country houses along all the valleys of the Dordogne, la Vézère and l’Isle et de la Dordogne.Ĭhâteau de la Marthonie – St Jean de Côle

The antiquity is characterized by the birth of the petrocores territory (Gaul’s community, 400 BC), which after the Gaul’s war, became one the towns of the Aquitaine Roman province with Vesunna being the county town.ĭuring this period, Vesunna acquired important urban infrastructures (aqueduct, amphitheatre, etc) the remains of which can still be found in Périgueux. The Neolithic period (3000 years BC): It is characterised by a period of settlement that included the adoption of agriculture and the development of tools (copper, bronze, iron).This is the reason why most of the prehistoric sites of the Palaeolithic age are spread accross the valleys of Vézère and the Dordogne. The Palaeolithic period: Ice age period is characterised by the drawings and engravings of reindeers and mammoths, which were famously found on cave walls within the Département (Rouffignac, Lascaux, etc).ĭuring this period (400 000 years BC), prehistoric man lived at the bottom of limestone cliffs.Various ages define the history of the Périgord PREHISTORY

Dordogne france map regions