Jardins de Marqueyssac Belvedere
High on a promontory above the Dordogne Valley, the Jardins de Marqueyssac contain over 150,000 hand-clipped box hedges that ripple across the hillside like a green sea frozen mid-wave. The belvedere at the garden's tip delivers what many consider the single finest viewpoint in the entire Dordogne department.
The gardens themselves
Laid out in the 17th century and dramatically expanded in the 19th, Marqueyssac's six kilometres of winding paths thread through sculpted box parterres, shaded woodland walks and romantic cliff-edge terraces. The topiary here is maintained entirely by hand — no mechanical trimmers — by a team of gardeners who spend roughly 3,000 hours a year on the task.
In high summer the box releases a warm, resinous scent that mingles with wild thyme and lavender from the surrounding causses. Every Thursday evening in July and August the gardens open by candlelight (Nuits des Mille Feux), when thousands of candles and lanterns transform the hedgerows into something genuinely magical.
The view from the belvedere
The stone belvedere at the far end of the promontory hangs 130 metres above the river. From here you can see Château de Beynac to the left, Château de Castelnaud to the right, and the Dordogne curling between wooded cliffs into the distance. It is a view that stops conversations mid-sentence.
A zip-line (tyrolienne) runs from near the belvedere down through the treetops to the valley floor — a thrilling way to descend if you have children (or a sense of adventure) in tow.
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