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Saint-Céré

Tourism, holidays & weekends guide in the Lot

Saint-Céré - Tourism, holidays & weekends guide in the Lot
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The medieval town of Saint-Céré has successfully preserved its architectural heritage, with its old houses, its mansions and its beautiful Mercadial square featuring a fountain and surrounded by beautiful timber-framed stone residences. The River Bave, which crosses the city, bring an additional charm to the place. Near the old town of Saint-Céré stand the towers of Saint-Laurent, remains of the former castle of the Turenne viscounts. Saint-Laurent-les-Tours boasts today the Jean Lurçat workshop museum, a place entirely devoted to the works of the artist, from tapestry to cartoons through painting.

In July and August, the city of Saint-Céré hosts a classical and operatic music festival.

Additional information
Saint-Céré

Saint-Céré is located in the valley of the Bave, a tributary of the Dordogne, between the mountains of Ségala, the fertile basin of Limargue and the limestone plateaus of Causse.

Originally, the city was on the conical hill of Saint-Laurent-les-Tours, where was built a castrum in the Middle Ages. It was part of a chatellenie dependent Counts of Auvergne and Viscounts Turenne. The castrum was finally abandoned when the city developed at its feet, between the different arms of the Bave. Fairs and markets took a lot of scale. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the streets and squares widened and the ramparts were demolished to build large mansions. In 1611, faced with many devastating floods, the consuls solicited the Dutch engineer Van dan Dome to dig a network of canals crossing and encircling the city, at the location of the ditches. These channels gave Saint-Céré the nickname Little Venice. They are not very visible today because they were covered in the last century.

Things to see and do

The walk begins in Saint-Céré by the Mercadial Square classified as an historic monument. This place, certainly smaller in the Middle Ages, was dedicated to markets. It is surrounded by beautiful half-timbered houses including a 15th century merchant's house at the corner of the Rue de la Republique. In front, the house of the consuls of the sixteenth century is a mansion with a half-timbered floor and a stone floor, formerly occupied by stalls.

A little further on the church square, the statue of Saint Spérie carries the palm of the martyrs. According to legend, she refused to marry Elidius, lord of Loubressac, because she dedicated herself to God. In anger, he cut off his head. Saint Spérie, decapitated, then took his head in his hands and washed it at the source, where the crypt of the church is now erected. In the Middle Ages, a chapel was built in this place that attracted many pilgrims.

The church Sainte-Spérie, of Romanesque origin, underwent many transformations after the Hundred Years War. The choir stands over a crypt that houses the relics of Saint Spérie. Outside, the imposing bell tower of the eighteenth century is built with the stones of the old walls.

On the other side of the square, the Puymule hotel is dominated by a big staircase tower. It has a door and windows decorated with curved arches, typical of the late fifteenth century.

The walk continues to Paramelle Street which houses one of the oldest houses in the city with a carved capital of the thirteenth century.

A footbridge then spans the main channel of the Bave. The Quai des Récollets takes its name from a convent of Franciscan fathers reformed, called in the seventeenth century to fight against Protestantism. A little further on the bank remains the paddlewheel of an old mill.

The castle of Saint-Laurent-les-Tours and the museum Jean Lurçat: The castle, located on the site of the old castrum, overlooks the city of its two square towers (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries). Stronghold of the Resistance during the Second World War, it sheltered the artist Jean Lurçat until his death in 1966. The castle is now a workshop-museum dedicated to this great creator of contemporary tapestries.

Places of interest

Information points

Events and festivities

Detailed information

Saint-Céré Festival
The lyric art festival in the South-WestJuly / August 2024

Photos

Mercadial Square
Mercadial Square
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Turret
Turret
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Sculpture
Sculpture
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House with taoulié
House with taoulié
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Old house
Old house
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Visits, leisure and activities nearby

All around Saint-Céré, the Dordogne valley offers a whole range of activities, visits and experiences to live. From the sacred city of Rocamadour to the Padirac chasm, from Collonges-la-Rouge to the Château de Castelnau-Bretenoux, canoe trips on the Dordogne to hiking on the paths of Saint-Jacques, the Dordogne valley invites you for a amazing trip.

Restaurants

Bed & breakfasts

Vacation rentals

Campsites

Hotels

Your holidays
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