Chartreuse du Colombier visitor guide

Visit Chartreuse du Colombier, France

The Chartreuse du Colombier is a beautiful country house surrounded by gardens that can be visited. The chartreuse is in Paunat near to Tremolat and Limeuil in the Dordogne in south-west France.

Explore the Chartreuse du Colombier

France This Way review: The Chartreuse du Colombier is a beautiful house with a dovecote and hunting pavillion which is surrounded by lovely gardens. The whole setting is very peaceful and charming.

The Chartreuse du Colombier was built in the 17 and 18th centuries in the beautiful local style of pale golden stone, deep terracotta tiled roofs and painted shutters.

Lovely gardens have been developed around the house and the various buildings of the property.

As you arrive the first garden you see is an area of clipped box topiary surrounded by small trees which forms a courtyard garden in front of the house. Heading right from here leads to the working farm attached to the property.

Behind here a charming ornamental vegetable garden has been created. The potager has been laid out in a symetrical fashion with raised beds, large pots of agapanthus and lots of ornamental trees as well as the fruit bushes and vegetables.

The potager is also decorated with roses, camelias and lavender and is very pretty.

The focus of the garden is a lovely Baroque fountain and there are various statues. The old stable building is also near here and is surrounded by parterres of roses and espaliered apple trees.

Continuing round past the donkeys grazing in the field you get to the long perspective towards the music pavillion. At the start of the long perspective opposite the back of the house is a raised area bordered by two parterres of clipped box shaped to reflect the patterns of Matisse, Magritte and Braque.

In front of here is a long grassy path to the music pavillion bordered with topiaries and large urns. In the spring there are also carpets of botanical tulips and narcissus. Various shrubs are planted around the pavillion and there is a pleasant seating area.

Leading round from here to the side of the house and the main garden area you will first come to a pretty pond which is home to ornamental ducks. This section of garden has deep shrub borders and lots of clipped trees and shrubs and areas of herbaceous planting including lots of peonies, roses, daylilies and aquilegias leading it to be called the 'English garden'.

One of the prettiest areas of the garden is the area around the dovecote with parterres filled with bulbs and perennials and lots of large urns and shaped trees and bushes. Behind the dovecote the woods rise up giving a verdant backdrop.

After visiting the garden you can stop for a tea or coffee in the gardens.

Attractions nearby

The Chartreuse du Colombier is on the edge of the pretty village of Paunat. Nearby Limeuil, on the confluence of the rivers Dordogne and Vezere, is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France.

Tremolat is a charming small village and is close to the 'Cingle de Tremolat' which is a very deep loop in the river Dordogne.

Explore elsewhere in the Perigord Pourpre. You can find more travel ideas in the Dordogne guide and the Aquitaine guide.

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Map of Chartreuse du Colombier and places nearby

Visit near Chartreuse du Colombier with France This Way reviews

Paunat

Paunat is a pretty village with a large abbey-church in the Dordogne.

Paunat guide

Limeuil

Limeuil is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France, and has a popular river beach where the Vezere and Dordogne rivers join

Limeuil guide

Tremolat

Trémolat is a very small but attractive village, close to the scenic highlight at the Cingle de Tremolat which has far-reaching views across the river

Tremolat guide