Situated at the heart
of the wine district of Cahors,
the Château
de Cayx is listed as far back as the 15th
Century. An ancient fort constructed to
control the traffic on the Lot River,
it sits alongside the flanks of a hill and
overlooks
a curve of the river as well as the small
village of Caix, situated within the district
of Luzech. The bastion,
which underwent numerous renovations and
extensions over the centuries,
now stands as a vast freestone mansion.
 In
the course of the 18th Century,
the Château
de Cayx became famous under the ownership
of the author and playwright Marquis Jean-Jacques Lefranc
de Pompignan who, although he was
a member of the Académie Française,
is nowadays better remembered for his feuds
with Voltaire than for his literary achievements.
Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and His Royal
Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark, born
Henri Laborde de Monpezat to an ancient family
of the region, bought the Château de
Cayx in 1974 and undertook important renovation
works. A native of the region and an enthusiastic
art lover, the Prince patiently reconstituted
over the years an authentic example of architectural
heritage.
Today, the château
stands as a beautiful 18th Century
mansion dominated by a square tower and flanked
by
four 15th Century pepperpot
towers. A vast
terrace extends from the southern terrace
towards the vineyard. Under the impulse of
Prince Henrik, the original 21-ha
vineyard of the Château de Cayx has been progressively
replanted. The vines that benefit from an
optimal southern exposure overhang a curve
of the Lot River.
 Over
the centuries, the place name Caïx was spelt in many different
ways: Caysse, Cays, Cais, or Caïx. Prince Henrik chose the spelling « Cayx »,
since it is the most plausible and the most easily pronounced; it
also avoids the false diphthong of the phoneme « ai ».
 The
motto composed by Prince Henrik that adorns the sundial of the Château
de Cayx: "Nulla fluat in caïano
Quae non meminisse velis".
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