Montignac (Dordogne)

Montignac is located in the east of the Dordogne department and in the north of the Black Perigord tourist region. The Weser River flows through the territory of the commune, into which its tributary Laurence flows.

The minimum height of the area is in the south-west of the commune off the coast of Weser, and the maximum is in the north-west, in the area of les Quatre Bornes .

Traces of human presence found in Montignac date from the Paleolithic era. On the territory of the commune is the Paleolithic cave of Lasko , as well as the cave dwelling of Regurdu ( Neanderthal ). The settlement was mentioned during the Roman colonization of Gaul. It is known that there are two villas in this place: Villa Olivoux ( French villa des Olivoux ) ( Chambon district in the north of Montignac) and Villa Brenac ( French villa de Brenac ).

In the Middle Ages , this place was an important fortress, which passed from hand to hand as a result of marriage, sale, inheritance, finally being in the possession of the Albre family . In 1603, the King of France, Henry IV, sold the castle to François de Otfort, Senor of Tenon .

The city castle was destroyed in 1825. Currently, only one tower and part of its fortifications have remained from the castle. Initially, the city was built by a ford , which allowed crossing the Weser River, and in 1766-1767 a bridge was built across it, which still exists today.

Evidence of an interesting history of the city remained on both banks of the river. On the right bank there are several narrow medieval streets where you can find architectural objects of the XIV-XVI centuries: stilt houses, half-timbered houses, laundries, fountains. On the left bank there was a city suburb ( fobur ), where there was a monastery, priori and embankments, which testifies to the religious and commercial past (trading port) of the city in pre-revolutionary France .

In the period from 1790 to 1795, Montignac was the center of the district.

• Chateau Coulonge ( fr. Château de Coulonges ), XIV-XVI century, the object in 1948 is included in the additional list of historical monuments ^[1]
• Montignac Castle , the ancient patrimony of the counts of Perigorsk ^[2] .
• Lasko Cave , a UNESCO World Heritage Site , among other prehistoric sites and caves with rock paintings in the Weser River Valley and classified as a national historical monument ^[3] . In the second half of the 20th century, the cave was closed to visitors, but in 1983 its exact artificial copy, the so-called Lasko 2 cave, was opened for tourists.
• The parking lot of primitive man Regurdu , classified in 1959 as a historical monument.
• Prehistoric parking in La Baluti.
• The church in Montignac , whose bell tower is included in the additional list of historical monuments.
• Directly west of the church is the “porte du Plô”, the remains of the portal of the ancient church of Plo.
• Hôtel de Bouilhac mansion built in the 17th century.
• The old Saint-Jean Hospital and the chapel of the former Priory (also called the “Saint-Georges Church”).
• On the right bank of the Weser, on the quai Merilhou promenade, there are ancient houses, five of which are included in an additional list of historical monuments.
• Duchenne House ( French: maison Duchêne ), built in the 19th century.
• The Montignac Bridge, built in 1776-1777, with remarkable ice cutters
• Monument to Joseph Joubert

In the early 1980s, the “Secular community of Montignac” for the first time organized the “Festival of Dance and World Music”; in 2012, it was 32 times under the motto “Culture of the soul”. For one week at the end of July, the festival gathers dancers from different countries and regions ^[4] .

• Official site of the commune
• Montignac at the Weser Valley Tourism Office website