The Château de Clérans is a castle in the commune of Cause-de-Clérans in the Dordogne département of France. It was built in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.[1]
The castle is situated in the southeast of the Périgord in a region known as Périgord pourpre, in the south of the Dordogne.
It is private property, open to the public on European Heritage Days.[2]
The castle was listed in 1948 as a monument historique for its keep and for other remains in 2007.[1]
An earlier castle on the site was burned by Raymond I of Turenne around 1100.[3] The castle was rebuilt from the 12th century.[1]
During the Hundred Years' War, it changed hands several times between the English and the French,[1] notably in 1378 when it was taken by Bertrand Du Guesclin. The castle became French in 1453.[3]
Abandoned, it was used as a stone quarry in the 19th century[3] until it was bought in 1936.
The dwellings, the two towers, the châtelet and the medieval ramparts,[4] the high keep and a split enceinte, are preserved in state of ruins, except for a chapel fitted out as housing.