Perigord Attractions
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Top Tourist Attractions in Perigord
Périgord is a historical region in southwestern France, on the western fringe of the Massif Central, which corresponds broadly to the present-day département of Dordogne, with an area of 9,060 sq.
Bergerac, France
In the nearby town of Sigoulès the "foire aux vins" festival normally takes place on the third weekend in July. In Cénac (a village south of Sarlat-la-Canéda) a fair takes place during the second weekend in August.Other places of interest in the surrounding area include:St-Michel-de-Montaigne. The essayist Montaigne was born at the Château Michel de Montaigne in 1533. The library where he wrote is still intact.Malfourat. South of Bergerac, this is the highest point in the district and offers spectacular views of the countryside.Lanquais. The Château de Lanquais was built between the 14th and 16th centuries.The busy little town of Bergerac (pop. 27,201), chief town of southern Périgord, lies on the Dordogne southwest of Périgueux and is a tobacco-manufacturing town. Its most interesting features are the Musée du Tabac (Tobacco Museum) in the Maison Peyrarède in the Cloître des Récollets (Cloister of Recollect Friars), but the old part of the town and the harbor quarter are also worth seeing.South of Bergerac is the 16th century Château of Monbazillac containing a small museum.
Beynac et Cazenac, France
This little village of Beynac et Cazenac (pop. 506) is picturesquely situated at the foot of a crag falling steeply down to the river which is topped by a 12th C. castle. In spite of its strength the castle was taken by Richard Coeur-de-Lion and Simon de Montfort. After being recovered by the French in the 14th and 15th centuries it was rebuilt and enlarged. From the wall-walk there are fine views of the valley. The church of Beynac, originally the castle chapel, dates from the 15th C., as does the church at Cazenac, 3km/2mi west.
Bonaguil
The castle of Bonaguil (1520), on a ridge of a hill, is a fine example of the medieval art of fortification.
Brantome, France
Brantôme (pop. 2,043), in the beautiful Dromme valley, has an abbey which was founded in 769, in the reign of Charlemagne, rebuilt in the 11th C. and altered in the 19th. In the nearby Château de Richemont (16th C.) Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de Brantôme, wrote his "Vies des Dames Galantes". The oldest part of the abbey is the free-standing bell-tower of the church (11th C.), which stands on a rocky crag. The abbey now houses the Musée Fernand-Desmoulin, with works by the artist of that name (born in Périgord in 1835) and archeological finds from the surrounding area.
Villars Prehistoric Cave
Grotte Prehistorique de Villars is located near Brantome in the Perigueux Vert and was not discovered until 1953. It is a fascinating site for both geologists and archeologists, filled with both limestone formations and prehistoric cave drawings that date back 17,000 years. The ceilings and walls of the cave are covered in stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, helictites and calcite, which also provides a shiny glaze for the numerous cave paintings and engravings.
Cadouin Abbey
Cadouin Abbey was founded by Robert d'Arbrissel in 1115, and during the Middle Ages was a popular place of pilgrimage. The church was consecrated in 1154; the cloister was begun in the late 15th C. in Flamboyant style and completed, with some Renaissance features, in the mid 16th C.
Domme, France
Domme (pop. 1,000), beautifully situated on a hill which falls steeply down to the Dordogne, has preserved much of its old circuit of walls (13th C.); a walk round them affords magnificent views. In the Place de la Halle are a 17th C. market hall and the 16th C. Maison des Gouverneurs. Under the town is an interesting stalactitic cave.
Domme Caves
The cave has one of the finest limestone formations in the region. Grotte de Domme includes stalactites, water mirrors and lighting effects. The skeletal remains of a prehistoric rhinoceros and several bison were discovered when work was done on the cave and are still on display.Grotte de Domme is an interesting stalactitic cave which provided shelter for the population during the wars of religion.
Gourdon, France
Gourdon (pop. 4,888) lies on the borders of Périgord and Quercy. The nearby Grottes de Cougnac have cave drawings of the Magdalenian period (15,000- 17,000 B.C.).
Payrignac - Cougnac Caves
The Grottes de Cougnac have cave drawings of the Magdalenian period (15,000-17,000 B.C.).This historic monument includes several galleries. The first gallery is full of stalagmites, while the second has early prehistoric drawings of ibexes, mammoths, deer, hunters and indecipherable signs, as well as numerous fingerprints. There is evidence that the cave has not been used since prehistoric times.
Montignac - Lascaux et Lascaux II
The Lascaux Cave contains exquisite prehistoric paintings but has been closed to the public for preservation purposes. At nearby Lascaux II, this Paleolithic art has been carefully recreated and opened to the public.
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Rocamadour, France
The little town of Rocamadour (pop. 631), one of France's most unusual places of pilgrimage, lies in an extremely picturesque situation, clinging to the rock face above a gorge on the Alzou (which is frequently dry) in the Causse de Gramat in Quercy. In the Middle Ages pilgrims flocked here to honor the Black Virgin of Roc-Amadour (12th C.). Above the town is its 12th C. castle, which is reached on a steep flight of steps with the Stations of the Cross. It is not known with certainty who St Amadour was - perhaps a hermit named Zacchaeus from Jericho. The great shrine of Rocamadour is the Chapelle Miraculeuse with the Black Virgin.
Padirac Shaft
Fifteen km/9mi northeast of Rocamadour is the Gouffre de Padirac, a huge swallowhole and underground cave system which was first explored by the famous French speleologist E. A. Martel and is now the most visited cave in France (boat trip on an underground river).
Sarlat, France
Sarlat (pop. 10,423), a heart-shaped little town lying to the north of the river Dordogne, was once the chief town of Périgord Noir, and has preserved from that period numbers of elegant burghers' houses. In the south of the old town is the church of St-Sacerdos, rebuilt in its present form in the 16th C.; the tower on the west front is Romanesque. On its south side is the former Bishop's Palace, with a Renaissance facade. Behind the choir of the church is a lanterne des morts ("dead man's lantern"), a round tower with a conical roof of volcanic stone (12th C.). To the north of the church is the birthplace of the 16th C. writer Etienne de La Boëtie, a friend of Montaigne's. In Rue de la Liberté (on left) is the Hôtel de Maleville (16th C.). A little way east, in Rue Salamandre, is the Hôtel de Grezel (15th C.). In the north of the old town (Rue des Consuls) is the Hôtel Plamon (15th- 17th C.), with a handsome facade.
