Château du Lieu-Dieu, Protected heritage castle in Boulazac-Isle-Manoire, France.
Château du Lieu-Dieu stands in Boulazac, just south of the old village and slightly below the D6089 road. Its pale stone complex is dominated by a large round tower with a steep dark grey conical slate roof, a rim of projecting stone brackets under the eaves and a single narrow slit window low on its face. A rectangular wing with a hipped slate roof and small dormers stands to its left, while a second conical-roofed tower with a smaller attached turret rises on the right; patches of red climbing vines cling to the lower walls.
The present castle was begun by Forton de Saint-Astier, a Périgueux consul born around 1400, on the site of an older noble residence. The estate, first called la Baconnie, took the name Lieu-Dieu after the Blessed Sacrament of surrounding churches was moved into its chapel for safekeeping during the final years of the Hundred Years' War. The seigneurie passed through the Saint-Astier and Bayly families until the Revolution.
The name comes from the Occitan "Luòc Diu", given by locals after the Holy Sacrament was moved into the castle chapel for safekeeping while English mercenary bands ravaged the country at the end of the Hundred Years' War. The Fête-Dieu procession walked from the village church, a kilometre away, to the castle until the 1960s.
The castle remains in private ownership and is not open to the public, though it can be seen from outside. The historic facades, roofs, and moat are protected as registered heritage, preserving the medieval military architecture visible from the perimeter.
The name Lieu-Dieu comes from the Occitan "Luòc Diu": during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War, the consecrated hosts of the surrounding churches were moved into the castle chapel to protect them from English mercenary bands. Albert Dujarric-Descombes noted that the name is older still, traced by Alexis de Gourgues to 1390.
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