One of my best holidays ever - DORDOGNE-Perigord, France

[Lisbeth]

The Dordogne Valley is not only a place where you can eat sublime meals and drink exalting wines, but also a site for pre-historic populations and geological wonders.

In peak on the Vézère River rises the cliff of the ROQUE SAINT CHRISTOPHE troglodytic village
This real limestone wall of 1 km and up to 80m, continually undermined by the river and the frost, has widened from a hundred rock shelters and long aerial terraces. These natural cavities were occupied by man from prehistory (55 000 years), then altered in the Middle Ages, to become a fort and a troglodyte city until the beginning of the Renaissance.
Upon arrival on the site your gaze will be attracted by the breathtaking panorama over the Vézère Valley. La Roque Saint Christophe is a unique place of troglodytic habitation where the testimonies of the different periods of occupation of prehistory and the Middle Ages follow.
During the summer, most of the mornings allow being initiated in the handling of impressive devices such as "drum winch" or squirrel cage for example.

To be continued....

[Alf]

Amazing

[Mel]

A very unique and intriguing place

[Richprins]

What a spot!

An old-time security complex where you can throw your empty beer bottles down at the enemy!

Wonder how the toilets worked?

[Lisbeth]

Better not elaborate on that question

[Flutterby]

Love seeing places like this.

[Pumbaa]

Awesome shots, Lisbeth,

the view is lovely and the landscape so beautiful

[Lisbeth]

All these photos have been scanned from a CD which came with the paper copies in these days and it was quite something to watch them on a screen.
Sometimes they came out with a bit of a mixed order though and after such a long time I am not always sure what is what and where it belongs, but I am doing my best to get a certain order in the happenings even if not chronological.

A visit to one of the many small and big chateaux. Sometimes only the gardens were open for a visit. I remember the peacock

View on Chateaux de BEYNAC from the other side of the valley.

The village of Beynac on the Dordogne River. The castle is on top of the cliff.

The Château de Beynac was built during the 12th century by the barons of Beynac, one of whom, during the period 1189-1199, was Richard the Lionheart. The château was another focal point of the Hundred Years War. Located about two miles downstream from the Château de Castelnaud and on the other side of the river, the Château de Beynac was occupied by the French. It is perched on top of a towering cliff and dominates its section of the river. The castle was bought in 1962 by Lucien Grosso who has restored it.
Visitors to the castle can see sumptuous tapestries showing hunting and other scenes from the lives of the lords of the period.
The Château de Beynac has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1944.

The kitchen

[Lisbeth]

View on the countryside somewhere along the river before arriving at the village of Domme

The tower gate of Domme

Founded as a stronghold in 1281 by Philip the Bold following his campaign along the Dordogne river, Domme obtained the privilege of minting its own currency.
In 1307, the Knight Templars were imprisoned in Domme during the trial against them, of which hundreds of Templar graffiti still bear witness. They used a code system involving a series of geometric figures: the octagon represented the Grail, the triangle surmounted by a cross represented Golgatha, the square represented the Temple, and the circle represented the imprisonment. Similar inscriptions (of disputed authenticity) has been found in other towns such as Loches, Gisors, and Chinon.
During the Hundred Years' War, the bastide was coveted by the English who first took the town in 1347 and repeatedly changed rulers throughout the war until 1437 when it finally fell under French rule again.
The Wars of Religion brought new turmoil. Protestants took the city in 1588 by climbing the cliffs at night to open the gates. A short success, as the Protestant captain had to hand the bastide in which he was entrenched back to the Catholics in 1592. The city then witnessed popular revolts (Jacquerie des Croquants) in 1594 and 1637.
Domme prospered during the seventeenth century only to decline thereafter, which greatly facilitated its preservation in modern times.

A "Bastide" is a fortified town. They were built mainly in the south of France in the Middle Ages. Most bastides were built between 1229 and 1373, between the Albigensian Crusade and the Hundred Years' War. Today, there are about 400 bastides. They all have a central square, and a rectangular street layout. On the market square, the houses have arcades. They were usually built in places that were easy to defend, such as the top of a hill or on a plain.

Place de la Rode in Domme. The building, built in 1282, which now contains a high quality jewelry shop, was formerly the “maison du batteur de monnaie du Roy Philippe III le Hardi” (“house of the minter of coins of King Philip the Bold”), as one can see from an inscription chiseled into a block of stone on the exterior wall of the building. (Philip the Bold was king of France from 1270 to 1285.)

The Grotte de Domme entrance is under the halle in the main square. The huge caves exist under the whole town and during the visit you can see beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations. They are the biggest caves in the Perigord Noir area.

The Grotte de Domme

[Flutterby]

Those manicured gardens must take a lot of care!!

I love caves!