Everything French Travel Magazine November 2013 | Page 36

La Roque – Gageac | Beautiful Village of France
La Roque-Gageac is a picturesque village that is
wedged between the Dordogne River and
towering limestone cliffs about 10 km from Sarlat.
The village is designated as one of France's Le
Plus Beaux Villages de France and is simply a
delight. Cobbled paths wind their way between
yellow stone houses that nestle below the cliff
face, while gabarres, reminiscent of the old
trading barges that once plied the river, cruise
past.
History
Historians believe that the village has been
occupied since pre-historic times and have found
many flit axe-heads and other stone tools in the
fields. A troglodyte fort set in the cliffs 40 metres
above the town gives

evidence to its earliest settlers. To defend against
invaders including Viking armies in long boats in
the 12th century fortifications were built high in
the cliffs, these fortifications continued to be built
right through until the 17th century making the
town impregnable. The Hundred Years War, and
then France’s bitter “Wars of Religion”, turned La
Roque-Gageac
into
a
key
stronghold,
impregnable and densely populated.
In the Middle Ages La Roque-Gageac became an
important trading town and port and boasted a
population of 1500 people.
Today you can take a sightseeing tour along the
river in a gabarre that has been sympathetically
reproduced.

Things to See and Do
Manoir de Tarde
This Renaissance grand manoir was built for the
Tarde family nobility JeanTarde (1562-1636), who
was an historian, as well as a cartographer,
mathematician,
astronomer,
theologian,
philosopher, and a friend of Galileo. This building
consists of two main sections, with pointed gables
and enchanting mullioned windows.
Romanesque Church
Halfway up the cliff sits the pretty Romanesque
Church, the views down the valley and along the
river from the courtyard of the church are
stunning.

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Sub Tropical Garden
These gardens are alongside the church, halfway
up the cliff, and boast luxuriant sub-tropical and
Mediterranean plants It is thought that these
plants do well here due to an unique
micro-climate.
Chateau de la Malartrie
Once the home of nobiltiy the chateau became a
leper hospital in th 12th century. The building has
been since transformed several times.