The Château de Budos is largely the work of Raymond Guilhem de Budos, nephew of Pope Clement V. Originally built by his uncle, he remodelled it from 1306, the old family castle taking on the architectural layout of the neighbouring castle, the Château de Villandraut.
In 1422-23, the English king Henry VI took possession of the castle and put it in the charge of Pons, lord of Castillon. Around 1433, Henry conceded the lands and castle to his son, the Duke of Gloucester. In 1446-47, Budos was given to the Count of Foix, following the death of Gloucester. After the conquest of Guyenne (Aquitaine), the Budos family, having supported the cause of the French crown, regained possession of its seigneuries in Guyenne. In 1652, the cavalry captain Lasserre seized Budos which he sacked and pillaged and burnt the archives. The seigneury of Budos stayed in the family of La Roque until the French Revolution. In 1825, the castle was sold as national property. In 1851, the Gironde Commission of Historic Monuments was informed of the castle. They learned at the same time that stones originating from the castle had been sold to a builder by the state.
The castle is rectangular in plan. A vast U-shaped building range around the courtyard is protected by a high wall contained by towers at the corners. Entry is made through a high square tower. On each face, a non-projecting square tower dominates the curtain wall and the buildings. The north-east curtain wall seems to have been raised several times. The crenellations of the first roundwalk have been filled in.
The ground level appears flat today thanks to embankments which have been placed there. Originally, the ground sloped and the architecture provides evidence of the different levels.
References:The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.