Dordogne

Dordogne is part of the administrative region of Aquitaine and occupies the third place among the departments of France (in the European part of France).

45% of the department’s territory is forested; for this indicator, the Dordogne also ranks third among the departments of France ^[3] .

Dordogne is bordered by the departments of Haute-Vienne , Corrèze , Lo , Law and Garonne , the Gironde , Maritime Charente and Charente .

The highest buildings of the Dordogne are located in communes:

• Audrix , radio transmitting antenna 205 meters high
• Bergerac , antenna in Monbaziyak height of 60 meters

The climate in the Dordogne is temperate oceanic, with mild winters and warm summers. It is worth noting a significant fluctuation in temperature values ​​between the northeast and southwest of the department, which reaches 5 ° C.

In the Paleolithic era, Neanderthals lived in the Pes de Laze cave ^[4] .

In the ancient period, on the lands of the modern department of the Dordogne, between the Dordogne and the Weser rivers , the Gallic tribe of petrocores lived ( Petrocorii ). The main settlement of this tribe was Vesonna , founded in 16 BC. e. (modern Perigueux ). From the name of this tribe, meaning “four armies” ( petru- “four” and corii “army”), the names of the city of Périgueux and the province of Périgord later arose. Nowadays, “Petrokorians” are sometimes called the inhabitants of the city of Perigueux (along with the name “Perigordians”).

In 27 BC, the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus carried out the reform, firmly incorporating Gaul into the system of Roman provinces. The future Perigord then became part of the province of Aquitaine .

The department was formed on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution on a part of the territory of the former province of Périgord .

Soon, in 1793, 10 communes were separated from the limousin department of Corrèze and transferred to the Dordogne.

About a year later, the Dordogne ceded the commune of Cavark , which was transferred to the department of Law and Garonne . And at the end of the same year, in 1794, the commune of Parkul was transferred from the Seaside Charente to Dordogne ^[5] .

In 1819, the commune of Beaurepos was withdrawn from the department and transferred to the department of Lo , where it was united with the commune of Suiyak ^[6] .

The department has 4 districts , 50 cantons and 557 communes.

The second largest number of jobs in the Dordogne is the sector of the forest and woodworking industry ^[3] .

In the south-east of the department are concentrated about 200 enterprises growing tobacco ; the Dordogne produces 15% of the total tobacco production in France ^[7] .

The tourism sector in 2011 provided 20% of the gross domestic product of the Dordogne ^[8] .

In the industrial sector of the department there are almost 3,300 enterprises, which employ a total of 23,800 people ^[9] .

By the end of 2010, the total length of highways in the Dordogne department was 18,945 kilometers.

Passenger traffic on the railway network of the department is served by 42 stations.

Air transportation is carried out mainly through the airports in Bergerac and Perigueux :

• Bergerac-Roumanière Airport (code EGC).
• Perigueux — Bazillak Airport (code PGX).

The original language of the province of Périgord was Occitan . In the northern part of the province its Limousin dialect was used , and in the southern part - the Languedoc dialect .

Museums

• Bergerac :
  • Memorial complex dedicated to the resistance movement .
  • Kostya Museum (donation of the artist and sculptor Konstantin Papahristopoulos).
  • Tobacco Museum.
  • Museum of Wine and River Shipping .
• Sandrieux - Napoleon I Museum at the Chateau de la Pommery .
• Flerak - Car Museum at Chateau Flerak.
• Grolejak - Insectura .
• Le Ezi-de-Tayac-Sireuil - National Museum of Prehistory .
• Saint-Pardo-la-Rivière - Museum of postcards of Perigord from 1898 to 1920.
• Sarlat-la-Caneda - Automotive Museum.
• Terrasson-Lavildieu - Museum of lithographs, sketches and posters of cartoonist Georges Goursat (Sem) .

Ethnographic museums

• Le Bugue - Burna Village , a Perigord village recreated as of 1900.
• Sorge - truffle eco-museum.

Regional gastronomy

Among the gastronomic features of the Dordogne are foie gras , walnuts , ducks (duck fillet, stuffed neck, ...), mushrooms (especially truffles ), AOC- certified wines , including Bergerac (Bergerac), Monbazillac (Monbazillac) and Pécharmant (Pecharman).

Memorial Monument

July 13, 1996 in the commune of Biron reconstruction completed and the opening of a memorial monument to the victims of two world wars. The restoration work was entrusted to the German sculptor Jochen Hertz , who asked the city residents the question “In your opinion, why should you risk your life?”. Answers, including "love", "fear", "peace", the master transferred to the tiles, securing them on the monument ^[10] .

American writer Henry Miller admired Dordogne: “This is the land of inexplicable magic that the poets have staked out and only they can claim” (the novel “Colossus of Maroussi”).

A number of cities in the modern Dordogne grew out of the medieval bastids (fortified settlements), characteristic of the south of France. In particular, the cities of Monpazier , Villefranche-du-Périgord , the House with its earthworks, Aime and its chateau , as well as Saint-Ole , the only bastide in the Green Perigord , can be mentioned.

In the valley and the basin of the River Weser there are many sites of primitive people , including Abrie Pato , Mikoc , Upper Lodgers and Lower Lodgers (all in the territory of Le Ezie-de-Taiac-Sireuil ) , Cap Blanc and the famous Cave Magnon cave , as well as cave paintings, including the well-known Lascaux cave in Montignac , Combarel and Font de Gom caves in Le Ezie de Tayac-Siroy , as well as the cave Ruffignac .

Sarlat-la-Caneda , Bergerac , Nontron with the annual blacksmith festival ( fr. Mascarade des Soufflaculs ), the Garden of Arts , the center of handicraft creativity, the factory of knives "Le Périgord", as well as Perigueux with its ruins Gallo-Roman era and the medieval city center.

In the commune of Le Bugue, an open-air museum is set up , featuring the authentic village of Perigord as of 1900.

The most visited tourist sites in the Dordogne are the city of Sarlat-la-Caneda ^[11] , Lascaux II cave , Castelnaud castle , Marcessac garden , Saint-Christophe rock (steep cliff length about a kilometer) and the Black Perigord Aquarium ^[12]

On the territory of the Dordogne there are more than 1,000 castles and chateaus, among which mention is the castle of Otfor , Castle Castelnaud , Castle Commark , Castle Monbaziyak , Castle Beynack , Castle Erme , Castle Burdey , Biron castle , chateau Miland , Castle Montfort , Castle Pyimarten , Castle Loss .

Among the 157 French cities included in the national list of the “Most Beautiful Cities of France”, 10 are located in the Dordogne, which is the first in the list of cities in this list along with the Aveyron department. The list includes:

• Belves
• Benac-e-Kaznac
• Castello la Chapelle
• House
• Limey
• Monpazier
• La Roque-Gageac
• Saint-Amand-de-Coly
• Saint-Jean-de-Colt
• Saint-leon-sur-weser

Natural Attractions

In March 1998, the Périgord-Limousin regional nature reserve was established, the territory of which covers the lands of five cantons of the Dordogne department .

Parks and gardens

The following gardens and parks of the Dordogne are awarded the national status of "Outstanding Garden of France" ( Jardin remarquable )

• House , gardens Château Coudon .
• Heyme, park and garden Chateau Put .
• Florimon-Gomier , garden in Dale.
• Hôfort, gardens of the castle Hôthefort .
• Issac , gardens at the castle of Montreal .
• Le Buisson de Cadouin , Planbusson Gardens.
• Saint-Germain-de-Belves , Conti Gardens.
• Salignac-Evig , gardens in the estate Erinjak.
• Tonak , Loss Castle Gardens.
• Terrasson-Lavildieu , city park with modern motifs.
• Velin , Sardi Park .
• Vezac , Marc .

Protected Trees

Among the remarkable trees of France, awarded a special certificate, three are in the Dordogne:

• Bertrik-Byre commune is a yew tree , over 800 years old and 9 meters in circumference. Listed in 2002 ^[13] .
• commune Bournickel - Atlas cedar , planted in the XVIII century chateau Cardo . Listed in 2001 ^[13] .
• Marsales commune is a big oak tree in Bigoti. Listed in 2010 ^[13] .

Gastronomic tourism

Among the regional products of the Dordogne can be mentioned black truffles , mushrooms, Perigord strawberries, Perigord walnuts (AOC), Perigord and Limousin chestnuts.

In the commune Eshurnyak near Perigueux produce cheese Trappe Échourgnac . This cheese has been produced at the Eshurnyak Abbey since 1868.

Guilt

• Dry white wine: Bergerac , Montravel and Périgord .
• Liquor white wine: Monbazillac .
• Sweet White Wine: Rosette and Saussignac.
• Rosé: Bergerac and Périgord.
• Red wine: Bergerac, Montravel, Pécharmant and Périgord.

The tourist train Autorail Espérance shuttled between Bergerac and Sarlat-la-Canéda (path length 69 km) until 2009 ^[14] .

•  

  Perigueux , the capital of the Dordogne

•  

  Beynack Castle

•  

  Lasko cave

•  

  Truffle Museum in Sorges

•  

  La Roque-Gageac

• White Perigord
• Purple Perigord
• Black perigord
• Green Perigord

• Site of the Prefecture of the Department of Dordogne
• Site of the General Council of the Dordogne
• Department of Tourism Committee website
• Dordogne on the website of the Tourism Development Agency in France