Château d'Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, Medieval castle in Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, France.

Château d'Aubeterre-sur-Dronne stands on a limestone ridge above the Dronne valley. The visible remains include the bases of four round towers and connecting walls, a 16th-century square gate tower, and a wing of outbuildings. The original motte, about 40 metres across, has vertical walls 5 metres high cut into the rock, with several underground galleries opening into them.

The castrum of Aubeterre (Albaterra) and its lord Géraud are first mentioned in 1004 by Aimoin, biographer of Abbon, abbot of Fleury. The Aubeterre line died out around the mid-12th century, passing to the viscounts of Castillon; Pierre de Castillon paid homage in 1246. Taken and retaken several times during the Hundred Years' War, the castle was last captured in 1453. In 1817 the chevalier de Bourbon-Conti had it destroyed, dismantled and sold.

The chapel within the complex displays Renaissance features and served as part of the castle's spiritual and defensive purpose. Underground passages linked the fortress to nearby religious buildings, showing how religious and military power were closely intertwined in medieval times.

The site sits on a hilltop and requires walking through the village and climbing steep paths to reach the ruins. The best time to visit is during dry weather, as the paths become slippery in rain or damp conditions.

The castle stands on a motte about forty metres across, cut from the limestone with vertical walls five metres high; several underground galleries open into these walls, and cave dwellings pierce the counterscarp. A vaulted pavilion with a ribbed cross vault, built around 1600 at the foot of the motte, ended up serving as a chapel and holds a medieval spiral staircase.