Standing on the heights above the Dordogne Valley, this castle was built between 1519 and 1534 by Jeanne de Balsac, Lady of Montal. Never completely finished, this Renaissance masterpiece is distinguished by the exceptional wealth and quality of its sculptures, which stand comparison with those in royal palaces. Monumental staircase. Tapestries and furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries. Renaissance interior courtyard.
https://www.tourisme-lot.com/en/prepare-your-stay/sites-to-visit/chateau-de-montal-819308

Château de Montal

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The Château de Castelnau-Bretenoux is a castle in the commune of Prudhomat, Lot département, France. One of the most impressive in the Quercy region, it has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862.
History
Construction began about 1100, under Hugues, baron of Castelnau, who built a wall around his manor. He was the ancestor of the powerful dynasty of Castelnau, who owned a rich and prosperous region and were vassals of the Counts of Toulouse.
The castle was enlarged several times between the 12th and the 15th century, when it was necessary to adapt the fortifications to artillery.
It was taken by Henry II of England in 1159, and returned to the barons of Castelnau at the end of the Hundred Years' War.
During the 17th century, the castle was improved in an aesthetical and practical way: large windows, richly decorated salons, balcony of honor.
The castle fall into disrepair after the death of the last Castelnau in 1715. In 1895 it was bought by Jean Mouliérat, a singer with the Paris Opéra Comique and also a collector of furniture and sacred artworks. He undertook the restoration and furnished the castle with his collection. After his death in 1932, the castle was given to the state. Visitors can see seven rooms in this fortress, restored and furnished in the medieval style.
Description
The castle of Castelnau-Brenenoux is located on the top of a hill, at the intersection of several valleys; among them is the Dordogne River. The castle is visible from a distance and easily recognizable by its walls of red stone.
The layout is nearly a triangle, with round towers at each angle. The square keep and the main building of the medieval period still remain. Its conception was very imposing, with three enclosing walls, wide curtain walls, and nine round towers.
A small village has surrounded the castle, along the slopes of the hill.

Château de Castelnau-Bretenoux

Château d'Aynac is one of Aynac Aynac castle located in the Lot, France. The building is classified as historical monuments in 1988.The Lordship of Aynac belonged to a side branch of the house of Pierre II Turenne Turenne, son of Hugues de Turenne, lord of Saint-Genest, married Saure Aynac, daughter of Archambaud, lord of Aynac partly quoted in 12712. Found Annet de Turenne, lord of Aynac, married 11 February 1495 to Jacquette Genouillac, daughter of Jean Lord of Assier, Jacques sister Genouillace said Galiot Genouillace, Lord of Assier, equerry, grand master artillery, Jacques niece Genouillace, master of artillery in 1479 under Louis XI and Charles VIII. Knight of the Order of the King, gentleman of his chamber, lieutenant of artillery, Galiot companion Genouillace, he was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia. To pay his ransom, his wife has to sell part of the land of the barony of Aynac in 1526. His grand-son, Galliot de Turenne († 1569) was made the heir of Galiot Genouillace in its 1523 and 1544 wills, if his descendants, François Genouillace, Baron d'Assier, and Jeanne Genouillace, Viscountess Uzes, have no descendants. François de Turenne (circa 1548-1633), son of Galliot, Baron de Molières and Aynac, married in 1591 to Antoinette Pontaniez, only daughter of Antoine Salers lord. He began his career in the company of the Count of Sancerre. He paid tribute to his land to Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon and Vicomte de Turenne. Flotard III Turenne (1600-after 1675), son of François, baron of Aynac. He was married in 1633 with Claude Gourdon Genouillace, Aubepeyre lady, sister of John Paul Ricard Gourdon de Genouillac (1621-1681), Count of Vaillac, first equerry to Philippe d'Orléans, daughter of Louis II Gourdon and Genouillac, field marshal, and Françoise de Cheyradour, lady Aubepeyre. He served as a handlebar in the company of gendarmes Themines Marshal, his cousin. He served in the army commanded qur Marshal Thémines in Guyenne to fight against the rebels Protestants. He received a commission from Louis XIII to get to Cardaillac to contain the Protestants of Upper Quercy who were holding meetings. Louis II de Turenne, son of Flotard III, Marquis of Aynac, died in 1697. He married in 1646 with Marie-Hélène de Felzins, daughter of Jean, Baron of Felzins, Marquis Montmurat, first baron of Quercy. Brother of John Turenne of Aubepeyre (born in 1643), said the count Aubepeyre, lord of Saint-Yrieix, married in 1671 to Catherine de Felzins. John Paul Turenne (born 1665), Marquis of Aynac and Montmurat, Baron of Felzins and Gramat. He married in 1698 with Marie Victoire de Durfort, Baroness Gramat, sister of the Earl of Boissières, Seneschal and Governor of Rouergue, commander for the King in Quercy, daughter of Armand de Durdort, Earl of Boissières and Anne of TOUCHEBOEUF, Countess of Clermont Vertillac.Jean Louis. Anne de Turenne (circa 1700-1767), Marquis of Aynac, married in 1732 with Anne Claude Robert Lignerac. Claude Joseph Turenne Aynac (1734-1771), son of Jean Louis Anne de Turenne, brother of René Joseph Turenne (circa 1735-1777), Marquis of Aynac, married in 1772 with Pauline Gabrielle Baschi Pignan ( towards 1742-1833). Henri Amédée de Turenne Mercure Aynac (1776-1853), Marquis of Aynac, married in 1799 with Claire Isabelle de Brignac Montarnaud (1781-1856) Gustave Joseph Romuald Edmond de Turenne Aynac (1803-1893), Marquis of Aynac, naval officer, married to Jeanne Adelaide Louis de La Tour du Pin La Charce (1812-1862) Guy Etienne de Turenne Aynac (1837-1905), Marquis of Aynac, general counsel of the Lot, married in 1874 with Elisabeth Alexandrine Berthier de Wagram (1849-1932), daughter of Napoléon Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Wagram. Louise (Louise Françoise Marie Josephe) Turenne Aynac, Stephen Guy Girl Turenne Aynac, married in 1895 with Count Bertrand (Bertrand Raymond Louis) de Toulouse-Lautrec Montfa, cousin of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and mayor of the town at the time of the separation of church and state, between 1904 and 1906, was the last descendant of the family to live in the castle.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-midi-pyrenees/chateau-d-aynac.html

Château d'Aynac

The castle of Saignes is a castle located in Saignes, France.The family of Lagarde is native of the seigneurial land of La Garde, located in the viscount of Turenne, in the Limousin, two places of Tulle. The oldest known member is Géraud de La Garde, lord of La Garde, who lived in 1240. From this family came Cardinal Geraud de la Garde de Daumar (died in Avignon, September 27, 1343), Master General of the Order of Preachers in 1342, son of Bernard I of La Garde (died in 1327) lord of La Garde and Daumar near Tulle. Pope Clement VI said he was of his blood, therefore a close relative. His brother, Étienne de La Garde, was appointed Archbishop of Arles in December 1350. Another brother, Guillaume de La Garde, was Archbishop of Braga. Bernard II of La Garde, Lord of the Garde and of Daumar, is their elder brother. Geraud II of La Garde who founded the branch of Saignes and Parlan is their cousin. According to Father Maria, the family of La Garde would have settled in Saignes around 1379, afterwards taking the name of La Garde de Saignes. The "castrum de Siognâ" was acquired in 1379 by Bertrand de Lagarde from Argentat. The origin of the branch of the Gardens of Saignes and Parlan is Géraud II, fixed at Argentat in 1364. In the enumeration of 1504, Barthelemy de Lagarde is lord of Saignes and Lunegarde. He declares that he possesses at Saignes "a house and an old tower, and its dependencies." The present castle was built by Pierre IV de Lagarde, born at the end of the fifteenth century, died in 1566. It was covered with honors by Francis I. In 1518, he was appointed adviser to the parliament of Toulouse. In 1519 he was his extraordinary ambassador to the kings of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary to ask them not to oppose his pretensions to the empire. After the battle of Pavia and the imprisonment of the king, the regent of France sent him to Edinburgh, where he stayed between June and November, to oppose the project of the King of England Henry VIII to strengthen the bonds between the king, England and Scotland by a marriage of Jacques V with the only daughter he had then and loosening the secular ties between Scotland and France. After the Treaty of Cambrai he was sent by Francis I to Portugal to King John III in October 1529. The object of this mission was to obtain aid from the King of Portugal for a loan of 400,000 ecus for the payment of the Ransom of the king and to allow the liberation of his sons, the Dauphin and the Duke of Orleans, held hostage in Madrid. During the troubles of Guyenne which led to the banning of the parliament of Bordeaux, he was sent with the office of first president of the Tournelle between 1 January 1549 and 10 August 1550.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-midi-pyrenees/chateau-de-saignes.html

Château de Saignes

The Château d'Assier is located in Assier, in the Lot department of the Occitanie region of south-west France. It is an example of the diffusion of Renaissance château architecture from the Loire Valley into other parts of France.
Built between 1518 and 1535, the château was commissioned by Jacques Galiot de Genouillac (1465–1546), Grand Squire of France under King François I. The château was designed as a large quadrangle, 40 metres (130 ft) on each side, flanked by massive round towers at each corner, capped with ogival domes.
Jeanne, only heiress of Galiot de Genouillac, married Charles de Crussol, vicomte d'Uzès (1483–1546). In 1768, their descendant, the duc d'Uzès, sold most of the château to demolition contractors, who pulled down the buildings and sold the materials. The duke retained the west wing for agricultural uses. In spite of the classification of the building as a historic monument, by Prosper Mérimée in 1841, the agricultural use continued until the whole of the surviving building was acquired by the French state in 1934. Since 1901, when it was registered as a monument historique, extensive restoration works have been carried out. The building is now in the care of the Centre des monuments nationaux, and is open to the public.
Architecture
The remaining west wing retains its pedimented gateway, which sheltered, in a niche at first floor level, an equestrian statue of Galiot de Genouillac. The courtyard frontage is decorated with two broad friezes, richly carved with emblems referring to the military achievements of Galiot de Genouillac, and to the legend of Hercules. Inside, a grand staircase, vaulted on intersecting ribs, leads up to a marble pillar, decorated with "grotesques", which is thought to be the work of Jean Goujon or one of his pupils. The interior comprises a series of vaulted rooms, decorated with martial trophies, and containing a small museum. The external and interior decoration is typical of the French Renaissance style, with Classical orders (ionic, doric, Corinthian), scenes from the legend of Hercules, such as the Lernaean Hydra and the Nemean lion, as well as more personal motifs, such as the cannons, swords, the collar of the Order of Saint Michael.
A tower-shaped dovecote, dating to 1537, contains 2,500 terracotta nesting boxes, which were accessed by a rotating ladder. Now private property, the dovecote was registered as a monument historique on 21 November 2005. The mill was built on the site of a medieval mill, and was rebuilt several times.