 It consists today of an isolated circular keep (12th century) and a residential building constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries, enlarged in the 17th century.The castle protected the southern approach to Limoges and the north-south route between Paris and Spain, as well as the ancient east-west route linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.It is most famous for the death of King Richard the Lionheart, who died there while besieging the castle in 1199 from a crossbow wound fired, according to legend, by one of the defenders called Bertrand de Gourdon.