Marith Castle

At the exit of Clairac on the road to Aiguillon, the castle of Marith is an original construction of the end of the 19^th century, built by Henri de Lartigue. Considering his family home in Dimeuilh to be too dilapidated, this descendant of an old Clairac family decided to settle on the banks of the Lot rather than in a valley away from the village. In order to do this, around 1865 he acquired several plots of land from different owners, including the Chaudruc family.
The name of the architect is unfortunately unknown to us: the building - of composite styles - dominates the Lot, downstream from Clairac; it is separated from the road to Aiguillon by a park crossed by an alley. A century later, his descendants sold it to the department, which created a centre for the handicapped. Today, it is a pleasant hotel that occupies it.

Jules de Verneilh gives us here a testimony of Marith in April 1885, shortly after the construction of the castle. His coming to Clairac is probably due to his links with Madame de Lartigue's family, the Girangy de Claye. Only one other drawing made during the same trip is known: that of the Pécharnaud property, between Clairac and Tonneins. This elegant drawing is an exact reflection of the building; a little life is given with a harnessed carriage, a figure on the top of the porch, while another sits on a bench, on the left. In the distance, the elegant dovecote turret that still exists.

Despite their Protestant ancestors - like most Clairacan families - the Lartigues had become fervent Catholics, especially in the 1900s; moreover, Marith Castle housed a chapel. Every year, on Corpus Christi (in June), Marith was the site of imposing ceremonies that brought together the “good” local society; on these occasions, sumptuous processions went from Clairac to Marith, where imposing altars were erected. Madame de Lartigue was not hiding from certain conversions that she had fought hard to obtain, such as that of Mademoiselles Madeleine and Henriette de Bellecombe, aged 60, baptized in the chapel of Marith on December 21, 1912! During the violent debate over the separation of church and state property (1905), Henri de Lartigue was strongly committed to the side that can be assumed.

Archaeologist and artist of the Périgord, Jules de Verneilh (1823-1899) is a personality who was rediscovered after the purchase of the collection of his drawings by the Dordogne Departmental Archives in 1995. This collection, in the image of the work of a Léo Drouyn, is an exceptional testimony to the Aquitaine heritage of the 19^th century..