The Château de Bruniquel is a castle in the French commune of Bruniquel, in the Tarn-et-Garonne département of the Occitanie region of France.
Name
The castle is often called Châteaux de Bruniquel (i.e. castles, plural). This is because, two centuries after its construction, the castle was shared between two branches of the Comminges house, hence "château vieux" (old castle) and "château jeune" (young castle).
Legend
According to Gregory of Tours, the Merovingian Queen Brunehaut or Brunhilda built the first castle, "château vieux" or "castel Biel in the 6th century on the site of a Roman castrum.
Architecture
Of the early 12th century castle, the only remains are partial foundations, parts of walls and the keep, the so-called Tour de Brunehaut. The site has been altered at various times, notably in the 13th, 15th, 17th and 19th centuries.
The "château vieux" still has its keep from the 12th century, an era when the castle was the property of the Counts of Toulouse, and its residence from the 13th century. It also has a Renaissance gallery; other parts have undergone extensive remodelling in the 18th and 19th centuries. The keep is named after Brunehaut (la tour de la Reine Brunehaut).
The "château jeune" dominates the confluence of the rivers Aveyron and Vère from a height of 80m (~260 ft). It was built between 1485 and 1510 and was remodelled during the baroque period. Its Renaissance gallery has six arcades.
A chimney from Bruniquel was taken and installed in the 19th century in the dining room at the Château de Lastours in Réalville.
Today
The site was a location for the 1975 film Le Vieux Fusil, directed by Robert Enrico and starring Romy Schneider, Philippe Noiret and Jean Bouise. The well now seen in the centre is not original; it was placed there for the film. Photographs showing the filming are displayed in the château vieux.
The whole site has been classified as a historic monument (monument historique) since 1840 and has recently been restored. The castle has been owned by the commune since 1987 and is open to the public from March to mid-November.

Château de Bruniquel

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Château de Penne is a castle of the twelfth century situated in the municipality of Penne in the Tarn in the Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees. The castle was erected from the Merovingian period. Its exceptional situation allowed it to play a leading role in the history of Quercy. During the Albigensian Crusade, there is the challenge of bloody wars between the lord of Penne, rallied to the Cathar heresy and supporters of Simon de Montfort IV. Later, during the Hundred Years War, English road and seize turn the fortress. Fell into disrepair during 450 years, it is currently being restored. Axel Letellier, a trained architect, bought the castle in 2006. From 2009 to 2011, a restoration program is underway at the initiative of the new propriétaire6. The different phases of annual work represents a budget of 80,000 euros. The region and the department contribute up to 15% each in financing. The castle was opened to the public in June 2010.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-midi-pyrenees/chateau-de-penne.html

Château de Penne

Like all the châteaux in this series, this is not a grand edifice like the Loire châteaux; rather, it is a fortified house of a type once common in this region. The locality has been inhabited since prehistoric times, but the château itself was constructed in the 12th century and enlarged in the 17th, when the façade and the interior décor were embellished.
The building itself is not enormous. It’s one room wide but is distinguished by the covered walkway that runs all the way round the top floor. Very few examples of this still exist in the region. Since the château sits on a rocky spur you would have a pretty good 360° view of the surrounding countryside. The château is an historic monument as is the pigeonnier, perched on four stone pillars.
The precise role the château played during its heyday does not seem to have been recorded. The first mention dates to an archive of 1609, when it belonged to the Tonnac family. However, it may well have seen some action during the Albigensian Crusade of the early 13th century, the Hundred Years War of the 14th-15th centuries and the Wars of the Religion of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
No doubt the plague epidemics that commenced in the mid-14th century and continued until the 17th didn’t spare this part of France, since the country as a whole lost an estimated 60% of its population. But these events are now lost in the mists of time.
New lease of life
Alan (Scottish) and Laurence (French) Geddes first saw the building in the late 1970s and it became theirs in 1980. At that time, before the motorways were constructed, this really 
was la France profonde. The journey from Paris took about 18 hours.
The place was virtually in ruins. I went to interview them a few years ago for one of my magazine articles and Alan showed me a photo of the building not long after they bought it, with no roof and looking very sorry for itself. They spent 30 years restoring it, bit by bit. You can see photos of it before and during the restoration project here. This really was a labour of love.
The property, in the Gaillac wine area, also included a vineyard, which the Geddes replanted and they make wine according to organic principles.
Unlike so many historic buildings, this one was granted a new lease of life. It could so easily have tumbled into a heap of stones and timbers. Looking at those pictures, I can see that it almost did.
https://vanessafrance.wordpress.com

Château de Mayragues

In the heart of the thousand years old vineyard of Gaillac, the Château de Salettes’s walls tower in the middle of its vines.
A XIIIth and XVth century building full of character and charm, the Château de Salettes was the house of the youngest branch of the Toulouse-Lautrec family then of the d’Hautpoul family.
Today property of the Le Net family, renovated into a charming hotel-restaurant, the Château de Salettes has kept the authenticity and the soul of an exceptional place.
http://www.chateaudesalettes.com

Château de Salettes

Château de Mauriac is French castle established in the municipality of Senouillac in the Tarn region of Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees. The castle is located in the heart of the vineyards of Gaillac. The castle is founded in the thirteenth century by Guiriaudus of Mauricius. The construction of this castle of the Knights Templar continues in the fourteenth century and is embellished by enriching its owners through the cultivation of pastel the land of plenty. The courtyard is an area of 400 m² and includes eight mullioned windows During the wars of religion in the sixteenth century, the castle ramparts is partially destroyed by Catholics because of its owner, Bertrand Rabastens, Protestant. It is from the 1960s to the painter Bernard Bistes, contracting authority of its renovation. The artist uses the rooms to exhibit his paintings.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-midi-pyrenees/chateau-de-mauriac.html