Manoir de la Salle, Manor house in Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, France.
Manoir de la Salle consists of a 14th-century square tower of pale beige masonry with flat buttresses, a projecting machicolated parapet pierced by small openings, and a steep dark grey pyramidal roof with a metal finial. A 15th-century manor with wings set at right angles and a corner tower adjoins it, and a lower wing with a reddish tiled roof and stone chimney extends to the right.
The square tower was built in the 14th century, and a separate manor with its lodgings arranged in an L and a tower in the re-entrant angle was added in the 15th century. The fief belonged to the Mârtres family in the 14th and 15th centuries; in the 16th century members of the family took part in the defence of Sarlat against the Huguenots. It then passed to the Vivans family and to the Cheylard family by marriage in 1630. The adjoining priory was listed in 1941, the manor's facades and roofs were classified in 1957, and restoration began in 1969.
The manor's name, La Salle, refers to a noble residence. The adjoining priory was listed as a monument historique in 1941, and the manor's facades and roofs were classified in 1957. Since the early 2020s it has been opened to the public by owner Jean-Max Touron.
The manor is accessible from April through September and offers guided tours and evening visits for visitors of different ages. It helps to check opening times in advance and allow enough time to walk through the buildings and grounds.
Each floor of the 14th-century square tower has its own latrine projecting from the wall on a stone corbel, a detail visitors can pick out on the exterior. The tower is also crowned by a machicolated parapet whose merlons are pierced with small shooting openings.
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