The tour
Comprehensive descriptions, interactive terminals, audiovisuals and scale models help you during your unguided tour (1h). You can visit the museum and discover an important collection of more than 250 pieces comprising authentic weapons and armour from throughout Europe. A tour at your own pace that allows you to soak in the castle’s atmosphere, from the kitchen to the parapet walk.
Outside, the most powerful medieval siege engines (mangonel, trebuchet, bombarde…) have been recreated. A medieval garden pleasantly concludes your visit.
During your tour, you will find…
Trompe-l’oeil – New for 2025
Another way to see and experience the castle.
Open year-round, this installation offers a unique perspective on the monument’s architecture and medieval aesthetics. Through ten life-size “windows” created from ancient miniatures, soldiers, artisans, and nobles evoke the atmosphere of an inhabited castle. Consider the talent of medieval artists, enlarged to life-size.
Scenography by Manuela Caldeira and Jean-Baptiste Péot (Carsac – France)
The Colors of the Middle Ages – New for 2025
Inspired by medieval tastes and hues, twenty-one cushions have been installed throughout the castle’s interiors. These soft squares of silk velvet and brocade, embellished with pompoms, add a touch of refined fantasy. The ensemble brings the fortress back to life and splendor, while offering a tangible glimpse into the preciousness of fabrics in the Middle Ages.
Mrs Temporis Clothing
An immersive layout of historical artifacts
As though you were there at the time! You can enter the artillery tower, built in the early 16th century. You climb a narrow stairway cut out of the thick walls to reach the four floors. Darkness, cannons in place, trapdoors, ropes, everything is in position. Watch out in case an attack is launched!
The Nine Worthies, a wall painting highly prized at the end of the Middle Ages
A magnificent painted décor adorns one of the rooms of the castle’s living quarters. Heroes and models of chivalry, they are divided into three triads: Pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar), Jews (Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus) and Christians (Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon).
The model of the siege of 1442
This siege marked the end of the Hundred Years War at Castelnaud castle. In late 1442, the English were definitively chased from the castle. Visual and sound effects animate the model of the village of Castelnaud and draw you into the heart of this event.
Videos
To complete the museum’s collections, six videos have been put in place. You can watch the stages in the construction of Castelnaud castle, explained through 3D images, relive a siege of a fortified castle, discover the equipment of an arquebusier and a crossbowman and also understand the impressive reconstruction work carried out at the Château de Castelnaud.
Reconstitution of medieval clothing
Several sorts of clothing are exhibited in the museum to imagine better the clothes of the Lords of Castelnaud at the end of the Middle Ages. The elegant silhouettes, with ample sheets of wool, with silk and fur reveal the fashion trends at that time and determine the membership in a particular social group.
The reading room
Comics and educational works about the Middle Ages are available to children for a recreational break.
Siege engines models
Perrière, bricole, mangonel, trebuchet, couillard… All these siege engines have been recreated on scales of 1:10 and 1:20.
Videogame
In this game your mission is to free a character imprisoned in the castle. It’s up to you to find the means of overcoming the obstacles. Your choice will be crucial. If you succeed, you win a surprise reward!
To guide you, the tour booklet is available free of charge at the entrance to the castle.
It is available in 12 languages and in Braille. You can also download it here:
