Fortress
of Arts

Entirely dug into the rock, it offers an exhibition space dedicated to popular arts, particularly to ancient pottery from Périgord and the South-West, with the presentation of a magnificent collection of walnut oil jars, finials or imposing melards in glazed terracotta.

Located in the 13th century keep, it represents the very archetype of Périgord cuisine with its large basket-handle fireplace and its magnificent 16th century adobe floor. You will be surprised by the beauty and the incredible variety of culinary utensils dating from the 15th to the 19th century and illustrating the ingenuity of our ancestors.

Always consecrated, the castle chapel is of great architectural purity. A triumphal arch separates the nave from the apse pierced with three bays symbolizing the Trinity. It still has its medieval stone altar and a set of liturgical furniture from the 16th to the 18th century. A showcase also presents a selection of sacred art objects.

The interiors contain one of the few arms rooms open to visitors in a French castle. The collection brings together authentic knives, firearms, weapons and armor - some of which are exceptional - and representative of the arts of war and hunting from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.

Set up in the dungeon, the great hall was intended for receptions and banquets. Redecorated during its history, it has 15th and 17th century wall paintings and a very beautiful herringbone parquet floor made by a 19th century companion. The furniture, tapestries and works of art date from the 16th century and bear witness to the development of the decorative arts during the Renaissance.

This intimate room, which has retained its 17th century walnut woodwork, was reserved exclusively for the lord and served as a place of study, work or meditation. Next to a rare archive safe, a showcase presents several
"cassettes" - small boxes emblematic of the cabinet - and a very beautiful icon of Notre-Dame de Cambrai from the 17th century.

The most famous room in the castle still has the birth bed of the writer Fénelon and a carved walnut fireplace listed as a Historic Monument and considered a masterpiece of 17th century Perigord art. All of the furniture decorated with twisted columns or “diamond point” patterns evokes art at the time of King Louis XIII.

Decorated in the 17th century with woodwork and very beautiful walnut parquet floors, this room illustrates the splendor of the decorative arts at the time of the Sun King. You can admire a magnificent desk in exotic wood marquetry or the sumptuous tapestry of the Shipwreck of Télémaque from a tapestry shared by the greatest museums in the world, including the Louvre.

In 1766, the countryside around the Château de Fénelon was terrorized by a wild creature nicknamed "Sarlat's Beast" and which caused about fifteen victims... Man or animal?... A display case relates this contemporary news item of the Beast of Gévaudan and illustrates the hunts carried out since the Middle Ages against wolves, which were unfortunately accused of all evils.

You will be amazed by this room inspired by the Renaissance chambers of marvels. The great discoveries, notably that of the Americas in 1492, upset beliefs. The creation of cabinets of curiosities contributes to the new desire to better understand the world, including the distant world, and the place of Man in the Universe. Among the rarities exhibited at the castle, the Mermaid of the China Seas will not leave you indifferent...

Its furnishings offer a striking panorama of a century considered the golden age of the decorative arts. Polish bed, cylinder desk in blond mahogany, armchairs and bergères with their Beauvais tapestry upholstery or even fans and court objects are all witnesses of the refinement of 18th century society that you will be able to appreciate.

Its furniture illustrates the various sources of inspiration for the decorative arts at the beginning of the 19th century: Greco-Roman antiquity but also the Pharaonic civilization brought into fashion following Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt. You will thus be able to notice the busts of women wearing the nemes or the lion's paws adorning certain pieces of furniture.

The tour will take you to the magnificent 15th century framework of the so-called “Jams” tower. At the same time, you can admire the incredible assembly of lauzes covering the roof. A model will explain the different stages of the work of the lauzier to arrange these stones representing a considerable weight.

The visit to the Château de Fénelon ends with the large vaulted hall of the barracks, a building in which a royal regiment was quartered during the Fronde in the 17th century. It now houses the model of the castle which will allow you to grasp the extent and complexity of the fortress.