The Château de la Malartrie stands at the eastern end of La Roque-Gageac and is one of the most photographed elements of the village — its golden turrets and crenellated towers rising against the cliff face in a composition that looks almost too perfect to be real. The building is in fact a 19th-century reconstruction, built in neo-Gothic style on the site of an older structure, which explains why it looks so much like a fairy-tale castle while the genuine medieval fortresses nearby look more worn and pragmatic.
The château is private and not open to visitors, but it contributes enormously to the theatrical quality of the village as seen from across the Dordogne. The best view of the Malartrie alongside the cliff and the village rooftops is from the opposite bank of the river, or from a gabare on the water. From the village road itself you pass directly under its walls, which gives a sense of the scale of the building pressed against the limestone.