Thynières Castle

Thynières Castle, locally known as Château de Thynières or Thynière, lies west of the hamlet of Beaulieu, in the Cantal department in France.

Thynières Castle was probably built in the 10th century by a member of the La Tour-d'Auvergne family after he married the heiress of the local lord. He then took the name Thynière.

The castle was rebuilt in the late 12th century, after which a young member of the Thynière family moved out and, in the early 13th century, founded Val Castle on a hill opposite and below Thynières Castle. In 1250 Thynières passed to the La Tour-d'Auvergne family.

It was probably taken and occupied by the English in 1373, during the Hundred Years' War. After the war, in 1456, there was still an English captain living there. In the 2nd half of the 15th century the castle was abandoned and fell to ruin, never to be rebuilt.

The ruined castle stayed in the hands of the La Tour-d'Auvergne family until their descendant; Catherine de' Medici, queen consort of France, sold it to François de Chabanne, Marquis of Curton, in 1583.

The castle was built on a hill on the east side of the Dordogne valley. It now sits on a peninsula jutting out into the Bort-les-Orgues Reservoir, which was created between 1942 and 1952.

At present Thynières Castle can freely be visited. This is a simple ruin without much architectural detail. It is still nice to visit because of its location and view over the reservoir to, the much more well-known, Val Castle.

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