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Sarlat Abbey |
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The famous place des Oies in Sarlat |
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In the heart of history... |
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The town of Sarlat La caneda has been able to maintain and preserve the marks of its history.
Sarlat is a medieval city which grew around a great benedictine abbey of Carolingian origin. As a monastic estate, it reached its peak in the 13th century.
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The origin of the abbey is lost in the legends. It existed in the 9th century, as part of the six great abbeys of the Périgord (Paunat, Belvès, Saint Front de Périgueux, Brantôme, Terrasson). The Carolingian abbey of Sarlat was the only one to have been saved from the Vikings, being away from the Dordogne and its affluents. It remained independent and came in 1153 under the direct protection of the Holy See in Rome. It was rebuilt during the Romanesque period, between 1125 and 1160. In 1318, the Abbey was the seat of the new bishopric created by Pope John XXII. The abbey church became the cathedral of the Sarlat diocese. The bishops, having replaced the abbots, launched its architectural conversion which was completed only in the late 17th century.
From the 14th century onward, bishops and consuls shared the power up until the French Revolution. Having become an episcopal city, Sarlat played a prominent role during the Hundred Years' War. With its stocks of men at arms, ammunition and food, the fortified town was also defended by the nearby castles and was able to come to the rescue of other towns besieged by the English: Belvès, Domme, Montignac. Sarlat however became English, following the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. It rallied the King of France ten years later, when the English were pushed back by Constable du Guesclin. The town, although it had played the same part as previously, had to surrender twice and suffered the exactions of the Captain de Vivans and the Vicount of Turenne.
A rebellion known as the Fronde marked the end of this propitious period in 1652. Sarlat was once again occupied by the troops of Condé. It freed itself in a bloodbath. The architectural quality of its monuments and of its buildings testifies to the city's dynamism and its ability to maintain itself through the great economic currents. After the disappearance of the diocese (attached to that of Périgueux) during the Revolution the town lost its prominence. Having become a sous-préfecture, it went into a 150-year slumber and began to liven up again only 40 years ago.
One can safely assume that many other French towns had streets as odd and picturesque and monuments as handsome, but moderns times gradually destroyed these treasures from the past. Sarlat was miraculously saved by the so-called Malraux law promulgated on August 4th,1962. This law, which relates to the restoration of the protected sectors, came into effect for the first time in France in Sarlat. The small medieval town centre, with its 65 protected monuments and buildings, served as a pilot site for the implementation of financing plans and restoration criteria.
« This place is the Frenchman's Paradise » (Henry Miller).
In 1965, the two communes of La Canéda and Sarlat merged under the name of Sarlat-la-Canéda. |
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