Gardens of Marqueyssac

Some 150,000 box shrubs, more than a century old and clipped by hand into soft, rolling mounds, cover a rocky spur high above the Dordogne, and walking among them feels like crossing a green sea frozen mid-swell. The Gardens of Marqueyssac, at Vézac in the Périgord Noir, are a romantic and picturesque park of 22 hectares, with more than 6 km of shaded paths, belvederes, rockeries, small cascades and dry-stone huts, laid out around a modest château.

The house is a late 18th-century country residence with a stone-tiled lauze roof weighing more than 500 tonnes, restored between 2011 and 2017. The gardens owe their character to Julien de Cerval, who returned from Italy after serving from 1849 in the defence of the Papal States and, from 1861, began planting box topped with cypresses and scattered with wild cyclamen, in a manner typical of the Second Empire with a strong Italian accent. After the Second World War later owners could no longer maintain the grounds. In 1996 the management passed to Kléber Rossillon, who also runs the nearby Château de Castelnaud; the box was restored and pruned back into shape, and the gardens opened to the public in March 1997. Nineteen hectares of the estate have been a protected site since 1969 for their picturesque and historic interest, and the gardens hold the national Jardin remarquable label.

Three routes lead from the château to the Belvedere, about 800 metres away at the tip of the spur, 130 metres above the river: the Cliff Walk along the ochre limestone escarpment, the Heights Walk over the highest points of the park through evergreen oaks, and the shaded Grande Allée on the north side. From the belvedere the view takes in the whole "valley of castles", with Beynac, Fayrac, Castelnaud, La Roque-Gageac and Domme strung along the loops of the Dordogne. On summer Thursday evenings the paths are lit by some 2,000 candles.

Getting there

The gardens are at Vézac in the Dordogne valley, about 8 km south of Sarlat-la-Canéda, whose railway station is the nearest. The nearest airport is Brive–Vallée de la Dordogne Airport (BVE), about 35 km away in a straight line; Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport (EGC) lies further west.