Saint-Paul-la-Roche
Encyclopedia
Saint-Paul-la-Roche, in Occitan Sent Pau la Ròcha, is a commune
in the northeast of the Dordogne
department in the Aquitaine
region in southwestern France
. The commune is integrated into the Regional Natural Parc Périgord Limousin
.
and 5 kilometers westsouthwest of Jumilhac-le-Grand
. It is surrounded by the following communes:
Besides the main village the commune consists of the following hamlets, farms, mills and castles:
Artis, Beauplat, Chalamant, Chandeuil, Château de Chalard, Château de Montardy, Château la Val(l)ade, Combier, Curmont, Eleix, Graffanaud, La Brousse, La Bussière, La Chassagne, La Croze, La Fagnade, La Farge, La Genetterie, La Grave, La Jarrige, La Lande de Beauplat, La Lande de la Peyzie, La Lande de Perrières, La Messeillasse, La Messelie, La Morandie, La Mouretie, La Papalie, La Petite Lande, La Petite Pouge, La Peyzie, La Pouille, La Pouyade d'Artis, La Renolphie, La Rivalie, La Roche, La Tuillère, La Val(l)ade, Lascombas, Lavaud, Le Chalard, Le Chalaret, Le Chatenet, Le Chêne Blanc, Le Goinaud, Le Grand Bois, Le Marguillier, Le Minaret, Le Moulin de la Brousse, Le Moulin de la Peyzie, Le Moulin du Breuilh, Le Petit Clos, (Le) Pierrefiche, Le Rieu Mort, Le Rouchoux de la Forêt, Les Pradelles de Chalamant, Les Pradelles de Lintignac, Lintignac, Paradinas, Poirier Bernard, Poirier Vachat, Pont-Fermier and Vialotte.
The southwest-flowing Isle River
forms the southeastern boundary of the commune with Sarrazac and Jumilhac-le-Grand. The commune is drained in a southerly direction by the small river Rochille. Just before reaching the southern border the Rochille merges with the Valouse
as its major left-hand tributary. The Valouse River traverses the western side of the commune's territory (following a southsouthwesterly direction) and represents for several kilometers the boundary with Chalais. After its confluence with the Rochille it ends shortly after as a right-hand tributary to the Isle. Immediately after having touched the commune's perimeter in the southeast the Isle receives four small right-hand tributaries, whose valleys are oriented southsoutheast. The Ruisseau de Curmont is also a small right-hand tributary to the Isle; yet its course runs west-east and defines the boundary to Nantheuil in the south. This small stream is paralleled farther north by the Ruisseau de la Val(lade) merging with the Valouse as a right-hand tributary.
The topographically lowest point within the commune at an altitude of 178 meters is found at the confluence of the Ruisseau de Curmont with the Isle; at this point the Isle leaves the commune's territory and continues southwest. The highest point with 342 meters above sea level is close to the hamlet La Lande des Perrières northeast of the village center.
. The commune is situated entirely on the metamorphic
basement
rocks of the northwestern Massif Central. Structurally these rocks belong to three different thrust sheets
, the Lower Gneiss Nappe, the Upper Gneiss Nappe and at the southwest corner the Thiviers-Payzac Unit
. The Lower Gneiss Nappe mainly comprises micaschists associated with micaceous paragneisses, paragneisses and medium-grained leptynites, the Upper Gneiss Nappe is mainly composed of paragneisses enclosing some leptynites. The medium-grained leptynites within the Lower Gneiss Nappe form an arc-shaped structure, the so-called Saint-Yrieix arc. The micaschists are derived from argilites, the paragneisses most probably from Neoproterozoic
greywacke
s and the micaceous paragneisses from more clay
-rich greywackes. The leptynites have a granitic
composition and either represent granites or rhyolite
s; they are of Ordovician
age, thus very much younger than the enclosing country rocks.
The Thiviers-Payzac Unit to the southwest consists of the Payzac Quartzite, a less metamorphosed equivalent of the rhyodacitic
Thiviers Sandstone. The steeply dipping, ESE-striking rocks of the Thiviers-Payzac Unit upthrust obliquely over the Upper Gneiss Unit with a right-lateral shearing component. The Upper Gneiss Unit strikes southwest-northeast and in turn overrides The Lower Gneiss Unit to the northwest, also showing a SW-NE strike.
Enclosed within the micaschists are basic and ultrabasic rocks of the Roche Noire Massif (near the hamlet La Valade), mainly metagabbros
and peridotite
s. These are some of the very few remnants of oceanic crust
left behind from a now subducted ocean. The Massif also exhibits several tectonic lenses of serpentinised peridotite
s, amphibolite
s and a bigger serpentinite
body. Within the micaschists and the micaceous paragneisses there are streaks of garnet
-bearing amphibolites, which in some places also invade the paragneisses. Epidote
-bearing amphibolites occur as well, they are found in micaceous paragneisses near the cemetery, in leptynites near Lintignac and in the Payzac Quartzite near Curmont. Even some small eclogite
outcrops do exist, for instance three near Graffanaud along the Valouse and one near Combier at the Isle.There are also some small bands of dacitic
metatuffs
enclosed within the paragneisses, the micaceous paragneisses and in the Payzac Quartzite.
An oddity is the massive quartz
outcrop near La Roche which has been completely quarried by now. This very pure, milky exsudation quartz was once sought after by NASA
for optical devices (lenses etc.). Under magnification one can observe many parallel shear planes of tectonic origin. The quarry once contained single quartz crystals in the decimeter and meter range.
The metamorphic conditions of the country rocks reached medium and high grade. The Payzac Quartzite has crossed the staurolite
isograd
, the Upper Gneiss Unit belongs mainly to the staurolite zone and parts of the Lower Gneiss Unit even have reached the kyanite
isograd (near the village center and in the north).
The country rocks are traversed by three major north-south-striking faults (north of Chalamant, in the village center and near Le Rouchou de la Forêt), which offset the stratigraphy. The faults at Chalamant and Le Rouchou de la Forêt are breccia
ted and cataclastic
. The latter is a major fault, it even cuts off tectonic units (like the oceanic Sarrazac Massif from the Upper Gneiss Unit); it can be traced to Sarrazac in the south, in the north it splays out.
Some of the higher ridges are mantled by Tertiary
alterites, which consist mainly of Pliocene
fluvial gravels (tongues near La Lande de Beauplat, La Lande de Perrières, La Petite Lande and Le Pierrefiche) and colluvium
. The colluvium underlies the gravel tongues and probably dates back to the Eocene
, but was later reworked during the Pleistocene
(ice ages).
village church of Saint-Paul-la-Roche dates back to the 12th century. The Château de Montardy was built during the 15th century on a site occupied before by a Knights Templar
stronghold.
to Périgueux
. It is paralleled by the railway line Limoges – Thiviers. The southeastern and southern border is followed by the D 78 from Jumilhac-le-Grand to Thiviers. The D 67 comes from La Coquille, crosses the village center and continues to Sarrazac in the SSE. Several communal roads (C roads) join the village center with its many hamlets.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the northeast of the Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
department in the Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
region in southwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The commune is integrated into the Regional Natural Parc Périgord Limousin
Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin
The Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin was created March 9, 1998. It consists of 78 communes situated in the Dordogne and Haute Vienne départements...
.
Etymology
The commune's name is derived from Saint Paul and the hamlet La Roche (the rock) referring to the white quartz rocks (La Roche Blanche) cropping out nearby.Geography
Saint-Paul-la-Roche is situated 9 kilometers northeast of ThiviersThiviers
Thiviers is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-Personalities:It is notable as being the town in which Jean-Paul Sartre lived as a child. Painter Pierre Bouillon was born there.-References:*...
and 5 kilometers westsouthwest of Jumilhac-le-Grand
Jumilhac-le-Grand
Jumilhac-le-Grand is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.The village lies on the road followed by Richard the Lionheart and on one of the many branches of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route....
. It is surrounded by the following communes:
- Saint-Priest-les-FougèresSaint-Priest-les-FougèresSaint-Priest-les-Fougères is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the north. - Jumilhac-le-GrandJumilhac-le-GrandJumilhac-le-Grand is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.The village lies on the road followed by Richard the Lionheart and on one of the many branches of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route....
in the northeast and east. - SarrazacSarrazac, DordogneSarrazac is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* *...
in the southeast. - NantheuilNantheuilNantheuil is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:...
in the south. - ThiviersThiviersThiviers is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-Personalities:It is notable as being the town in which Jean-Paul Sartre lived as a child. Painter Pierre Bouillon was born there.-References:*...
im the southwest. - Saint-Jory-de Chalais in the west.
- Chalais in the west.
- La CoquilleLa CoquilleLa Coquille is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.La Coquille is located in the Périgord in a heavily wooded area with meadows surrounding the peaceful little village...
in the northwest.
Besides the main village the commune consists of the following hamlets, farms, mills and castles:
Artis, Beauplat, Chalamant, Chandeuil, Château de Chalard, Château de Montardy, Château la Val(l)ade, Combier, Curmont, Eleix, Graffanaud, La Brousse, La Bussière, La Chassagne, La Croze, La Fagnade, La Farge, La Genetterie, La Grave, La Jarrige, La Lande de Beauplat, La Lande de la Peyzie, La Lande de Perrières, La Messeillasse, La Messelie, La Morandie, La Mouretie, La Papalie, La Petite Lande, La Petite Pouge, La Peyzie, La Pouille, La Pouyade d'Artis, La Renolphie, La Rivalie, La Roche, La Tuillère, La Val(l)ade, Lascombas, Lavaud, Le Chalard, Le Chalaret, Le Chatenet, Le Chêne Blanc, Le Goinaud, Le Grand Bois, Le Marguillier, Le Minaret, Le Moulin de la Brousse, Le Moulin de la Peyzie, Le Moulin du Breuilh, Le Petit Clos, (Le) Pierrefiche, Le Rieu Mort, Le Rouchoux de la Forêt, Les Pradelles de Chalamant, Les Pradelles de Lintignac, Lintignac, Paradinas, Poirier Bernard, Poirier Vachat, Pont-Fermier and Vialotte.
The southwest-flowing Isle River
Isle River
The Isle is a 255 km long river in south-western France, right tributary of the Dordogne. Its source is in the north-western Massif Central, near the town Nexon . It flows south-west through the following départements and towns:...
forms the southeastern boundary of the commune with Sarrazac and Jumilhac-le-Grand. The commune is drained in a southerly direction by the small river Rochille. Just before reaching the southern border the Rochille merges with the Valouse
Valouse
Valouse is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:...
as its major left-hand tributary. The Valouse River traverses the western side of the commune's territory (following a southsouthwesterly direction) and represents for several kilometers the boundary with Chalais. After its confluence with the Rochille it ends shortly after as a right-hand tributary to the Isle. Immediately after having touched the commune's perimeter in the southeast the Isle receives four small right-hand tributaries, whose valleys are oriented southsoutheast. The Ruisseau de Curmont is also a small right-hand tributary to the Isle; yet its course runs west-east and defines the boundary to Nantheuil in the south. This small stream is paralleled farther north by the Ruisseau de la Val(lade) merging with the Valouse as a right-hand tributary.
The topographically lowest point within the commune at an altitude of 178 meters is found at the confluence of the Ruisseau de Curmont with the Isle; at this point the Isle leaves the commune's territory and continues southwest. The highest point with 342 meters above sea level is close to the hamlet La Lande des Perrières northeast of the village center.
Geology
Saint-Paul-la-Roche is living up to its name by offering a very diverse and rather complicated geologyGeology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
. The commune is situated entirely on the metamorphic
Metamorphism
Metamorphism is the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rocks due to changes in physical and chemical conditions, primarily heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids. Mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes can occur during this process...
basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
rocks of the northwestern Massif Central. Structurally these rocks belong to three different thrust sheets
Thrust fault
A thrust fault is a type of fault, or break in the Earth's crust across which there has been relative movement, in which rocks of lower stratigraphic position are pushed up and over higher strata. They are often recognized because they place older rocks above younger...
, the Lower Gneiss Nappe, the Upper Gneiss Nappe and at the southwest corner the Thiviers-Payzac Unit
Thiviers-Payzac Unit
The Thiviers-Payzac Unit is a metasedimentary succession of late Neoproterozoic and Cambrian age outcropping in the southern Limousin in France...
. The Lower Gneiss Nappe mainly comprises micaschists associated with micaceous paragneisses, paragneisses and medium-grained leptynites, the Upper Gneiss Nappe is mainly composed of paragneisses enclosing some leptynites. The medium-grained leptynites within the Lower Gneiss Nappe form an arc-shaped structure, the so-called Saint-Yrieix arc. The micaschists are derived from argilites, the paragneisses most probably from Neoproterozoic
Neoproterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...
greywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
s and the micaceous paragneisses from more clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
-rich greywackes. The leptynites have a granitic
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
composition and either represent granites or rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
s; they are of Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
age, thus very much younger than the enclosing country rocks.
The Thiviers-Payzac Unit to the southwest consists of the Payzac Quartzite, a less metamorphosed equivalent of the rhyodacitic
Rhyodacite
Rhyodacite is an extrusive volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of granodiorite. Phenocrysts of sodium rich plagioclase, sanidine, quartz, and biotite or hornblende are typically set in an aphanitic to glassy light to intermediate...
Thiviers Sandstone. The steeply dipping, ESE-striking rocks of the Thiviers-Payzac Unit upthrust obliquely over the Upper Gneiss Unit with a right-lateral shearing component. The Upper Gneiss Unit strikes southwest-northeast and in turn overrides The Lower Gneiss Unit to the northwest, also showing a SW-NE strike.
Enclosed within the micaschists are basic and ultrabasic rocks of the Roche Noire Massif (near the hamlet La Valade), mainly metagabbros
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
and peridotite
Peridotite
A peridotite is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock, consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium, reflecting the high proportions of magnesium-rich olivine, with appreciable iron...
s. These are some of the very few remnants of oceanic crust
Oceanic crust
Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium...
left behind from a now subducted ocean. The Massif also exhibits several tectonic lenses of serpentinised peridotite
Peridotite
A peridotite is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock, consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium, reflecting the high proportions of magnesium-rich olivine, with appreciable iron...
s, amphibolite
Amphibolite
Amphibolite is the name given to a rock consisting mainly of hornblende amphibole, the use of the term being restricted, however, to metamorphic rocks. The modern terminology for a holocrystalline plutonic igneous rocks composed primarily of hornblende amphibole is a hornblendite, which are...
s and a bigger serpentinite
Serpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
body. Within the micaschists and the micaceous paragneisses there are streaks of garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
-bearing amphibolites, which in some places also invade the paragneisses. Epidote
Epidote
Epidote is a calcium aluminium iron sorosilicate mineral, Ca2Al2O, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Well-developed crystals are of frequent occurrence: they are commonly prismatic in habit, the direction of elongation being perpendicular to the single plane of symmetry. The faces are often...
-bearing amphibolites occur as well, they are found in micaceous paragneisses near the cemetery, in leptynites near Lintignac and in the Payzac Quartzite near Curmont. Even some small eclogite
Eclogite
Eclogite is a mafic metamorphic rock. Eclogite is of special interest for at least two reasons. First, it forms at pressures greater than those typical of the crust of the Earth...
outcrops do exist, for instance three near Graffanaud along the Valouse and one near Combier at the Isle.There are also some small bands of dacitic
Dacite
Dacite is an igneous, volcanic rock. It has an aphanitic to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. The relative proportions of feldspars and quartz in dacite, and in many other volcanic rocks, are illustrated in the QAPF diagram...
metatuffs
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
enclosed within the paragneisses, the micaceous paragneisses and in the Payzac Quartzite.
An oddity is the massive quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
outcrop near La Roche which has been completely quarried by now. This very pure, milky exsudation quartz was once sought after by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
for optical devices (lenses etc.). Under magnification one can observe many parallel shear planes of tectonic origin. The quarry once contained single quartz crystals in the decimeter and meter range.
The metamorphic conditions of the country rocks reached medium and high grade. The Payzac Quartzite has crossed the staurolite
Staurolite
Staurolite is a red brown to black, mostly opaque, nesosilicate mineral with a white streak.-Properties:It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, has a Mohs hardness of 7 to 7.5 and a rather complex chemical formula: 2Al94O204...
isograd
Isograd
In geology, an isograd is a plane of constant metamorphic grade in the field; it separates metamorphic zones of different metamorphic index minerals. On geologic maps focusing on metamorphic terranes , the boundaries between rocks of different metamorphic grade are commonly demarcated by isograd...
, the Upper Gneiss Unit belongs mainly to the staurolite zone and parts of the Lower Gneiss Unit even have reached the kyanite
Kyanite
Kyanite, whose name derives from the Greek word kuanos sometimes referred to as "kyanos", meaning deep blue, is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock. Kyanite in metamorphic rocks generally indicates pressures higher than...
isograd (near the village center and in the north).
The country rocks are traversed by three major north-south-striking faults (north of Chalamant, in the village center and near Le Rouchou de la Forêt), which offset the stratigraphy. The faults at Chalamant and Le Rouchou de la Forêt are breccia
Breccia
Breccia is a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix, that can be either similar to or different from the composition of the fragments....
ted and cataclastic
Cataclasite
Cataclasite is a type of cataclastic rock that is formed by fracturing and comminution during faulting. It is normally cohesive and non-foliated, consisting of angular clasts in a finer-grained matrix.- Types of cataclasite :...
. The latter is a major fault, it even cuts off tectonic units (like the oceanic Sarrazac Massif from the Upper Gneiss Unit); it can be traced to Sarrazac in the south, in the north it splays out.
Some of the higher ridges are mantled by Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
alterites, which consist mainly of Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
fluvial gravels (tongues near La Lande de Beauplat, La Lande de Perrières, La Petite Lande and Le Pierrefiche) and colluvium
Colluvium
Colluvium is the name for loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low-grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, transported by gravity. The deposits that collect at the foot of a steep slope or cliff are also known by the same name. Colluvium often...
. The colluvium underlies the gravel tongues and probably dates back to the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
, but was later reworked during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
(ice ages).
History
The Château de Chalard is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. Most of it was destroyed during the Hundred Years War. The RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
village church of Saint-Paul-la-Roche dates back to the 12th century. The Château de Montardy was built during the 15th century on a site occupied before by a Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
stronghold.
Population
Sights
- The Romanesque village church.
- The castle Château de Chalard.
- The castle Château de Montardy.
- La maison templière, an ancient dwelling of the Knights Templar.
Access
Close to the western boundary of the commune passes the major trunk road N 21 from LimogesLimoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
to Périgueux
Périgueux
Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Périgueux is the prefecture of the department and the capital of the region...
. It is paralleled by the railway line Limoges – Thiviers. The southeastern and southern border is followed by the D 78 from Jumilhac-le-Grand to Thiviers. The D 67 comes from La Coquille, crosses the village center and continues to Sarrazac in the SSE. Several communal roads (C roads) join the village center with its many hamlets.
External links
- Saint-Paul-la-Roche on the website of annuaire-mairie.fr
- http://planet-terre.ens-lyon.fr/planetterre/objets/img_sem/XML/db/planetterre/metadata/LOM-Img19-2002-11-11.xml
Literature
- Guillot, P.-L. et al. Feuille Thiviers. Carte géologique de la France à 1/50000. BRGM.
- Richard, D. et al. (1993). Le Guide Dordogne Périgord. Éditions Fanlac. Périgueux.