Biron Castle, Dordogne: Detail, Medieval donjon

The Ch\u00E2teau de Biron is a castle in the French commune of Biron in the valley of the L\u00E8de, a tributary of the Lot River in P\u00E9rigord. It was the ch\u00E2teau from which the Gontaut-Biron took their name, being their seat from the twelfth century. Biron was seized by the Cathars in 1211, retaken by Simon IV de Montfort the following year. The Plantagenets held it at times during the 14th and 15th century. Biron was largely erected as a duch\u00E9-pairie in 1598, for Charles de Gontaut, created duc de Biron. The present ch\u00E2teau bears additions over the centuries that make a picturesque ensemble: a twelfth century keep, sixteenth-century living quarters, a chapel and vaulted kitchens. The commune purchased the Ch\u00E2teau de Biron in 1978. Since 1928, the Ch\u00E2teau de Biron has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.