Chateau
A Journey Between Time and Space
Château Cramirat is a tech-innovation lab, global design studio, art hub, publication house, and business-hospitality site. We operate out of a 12th-century Templar building of historical magnitude, located in the Valley of Mankind, Southwest France.
Here, philosopher of science Anna Ravitzki and designer Dan Alexander intercept technology, philosophy, and design.
In this UNESCO World Heritage Site, our work revives the transformative heritage of a thousand years back, to reinvent the future a thousand years forward.
Our futuristic journey involves high-profile visionaries that focus on creating global impact, breathing new life into a long legacy of leadership in this location.
Humanity at the Core
Our remarkable Templar chateau is located in Sergeac, a scenic village deep within the Dordogne region (Nouvelle Aquitaine) of Southwest France.
This area is the French Périgord Noir, renowned for its superior foie gras and truffles, and also for holding surprising secrets about the evolution of humanity – it is dotted with the earliest fossils of modern mankind, called Cro-Magnon.
Chateau Cramirat is perched above the banks of the Vézère river, which flows through a small valley listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Several key landmarks surround it, including the world-famous paleolithic cave paintings of Lascaux and the remarkable rock shelters of Castel Merle. The richness of the area points at it being the birthplace of mankind, inhabited continuously for eons by the world’s most progressive communities.
This timeless place, cradling humanity since the dawn of time, is called the Valley of Mankind (Vallée de l’Homme), and Chateau Cramirat is in its very heart, a silent witness to the breakthroughs society has made over the last millennia.
A Templar Masterpiece
The first mention of Chateau Cramirat appears in 12th-century Templar records, documenting it as the chief commandery and seat of the Templar Grandmaster in Périgord. An unforgettable stronghold, it was a major magnet for culture, finance, and the community.
Its structure has remained untouched since.
Situated midway between an earlier 12th-century Templar church and a 16th-century stone cross called Croix des Templiers, the chateau also marks the Camino pilgrimage path to Santiago de Compostela.
Our chateau, the church, and stone cross are all listed as French national historic monuments, to be preserved for posterity.
The location, history, and architecture have made Chateau Cramirat a remarkable landmark, in both Sergeac and the entire Valley of Mankind.
The chateau’s stones whisper the wonders of an ancient order that transformed people to benefit the world.
A Novel Center of Leadership
Originally named after Guillaume de Crémirac, commander of Sergeac in 1316, Chateau Cramirat still stands intact as the original Romanesque two-story structure, with a unique tower, wrapped in a fortified enclosure.
For one thousand years it has continuously served the community, first as a key financial and cultural center, next as a welcoming pilgrim hospice, and then as an important community center all the way to the mid 1960s.
Today, this same social spirit is re-sparked with the flame of the future, combining technology, philosophy, and design to continue the humanistic legacy for a thousand years more.
Rare Location, Unforgettable Lives
Secrets, Deep in the Valley of Mankind
