Château de Montaigut-le-Blanc, Medieval castle in Montaigut-le-Blanc, France.

The Château de Montaigut-le-Blanc is a 14th-century stone fortress whose walls rise 20 metres, with a squat round tower on the left and a taller square section on the right. Its rough grey blocks show orange lichen, and an arched doorway with a dark wooden door opens at the base.

A wooden stronghold stood here from the 11th century; the surviving stone walls were built in 1357. It housed a garrison, lodged merchants and sheltered peasants, and its owners included Jean de Brachet and Georges de Villequier. A 1732 report already called most buildings uninhabitable, and in 1866 Pierre de Cessac wrote that Montaigut had become a quarry.

Locals call the site Grand Montaigut, and a saying warns: "Montaigut-le-Blanc, who sees it is not inside!" The castle was a garrison seat, a stop for merchants and a refuge for peasants during the Middle Ages. The Amis du château association has owned it since 1968.

The castle stands on a 505 m motte at Le Grand Montaigut, reached by road from the village below. A dry moat rings the walls, filled in opposite the hamlet where a drawbridge once stood. The restored north-west logis can be visited; the terrace of the keep looks over the Gartempe valley.

A 1732 report found most of the buildings uninhabitable, and in 1866 Pierre de Cessac wrote that Montaigut had become a quarry. The castle stood abandoned for nearly 250 years before the Amis du château bought it in 1968. A couple who bought it in 1989, refused state aid, took on debt to restore it.