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Fortitudo mea
civium fides
City's Maps
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If you walk up the hill from La Cité
you'll come to Cathedrale St-Front which
proved to be a trial run for architect Abadie who
later went onto design the Sacré-Coeur in Paris.
Medieval and Renaissance architecture also
includes the Maison Estignard, no 3 rue
Limogeanne and the Maison du Patisser at
place St-Louis. |
La Cité, once a pivotal
Gallo-Roman site of Vesunna, is also worth a foray.
Although this is largely a residential area you'll
still see vestiges of the Roman amphitheatre, a
temple and the 12th century Eglise St-Etienne. .
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Perigueux is the capital of
the Dordogne and serves as a great base for
exploring the surrounding area. The medieval
part of the town comes alive on Wednesdays and
Saturdays when local artisans display their
first-class produce including assorted cured meats,
truffles, foie-gras and pies or 'pates de
Perigueux'. |
History
Founded over two thousand years ago, Périgueux,
préfecture or capital city of the Dordogne, is a gracious
blend of ancient and modern.
The history of the city of Périgueux began when four Celtic
tribes merged to become the Petrucores. They settled on the
hills overlooking the river (l’Isle) until they were
overpowered by the Romans.
The Gallo‑Roman remains show how magnificent the town
would have been in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Romans
having built in the valley Vesunna, an imposing city (between
15 and 20000 inhabitants), which, in the 3rd century, was
enclosed by a defensive surrounding wall.
In the 4th century, Vesunna which was but a small town was
named after its people “Civitas Petrocoriorum”. The town
was no longer prosperous during the Dark Ages. In the 9th
century, it withstood the attacks of the Normans several
times thanks to its thick defensive surrounding wall.
From the 10th century on, the birth of another town gave new
impetus to the valley. As a matter of fact, a chapel and a
monastery were built outside the walls were the tomb of the
apostle of the Périgord, whose name was Saint-Front, had
been erected and which attracted a lot of pilgrims.
Merchants, artisans who wanted to get
rich traded with the clerics and travellers and settled down
nearby. This population gave birth to the “Bourg du Puy
Saint-Front”. In the 13th century, the new town expanded
and was surrounded by a wall in a U-shape, a 1.6 km long
with 28 towers and 12 gates.
In 1240, in the reign of Saint-Louis, the City and the
“Bourg” met and formed one city called Périgueux. For
centuries, Périgueux, protected by its defensive wall,
remained unchanged. But from the 18th century on, the city
began developing. Beyond the wall a modern city appeared and
in 1790 it became the “préfecture” of the “département
de la Dordogne”.
In the 19th century, the number of inhabitants increased a
lot and the city spread along the river Isle as it used to
be in the 2nd century. But it is only when the rail went
through Périgueux in 1856 that the city really expanded
(5700 inhabitants in 1801, 13000 inhabitants in 1850, 31300
in 1890).
In the 20th century, “Great Périgueux”
developed through the neighbouring villages, going past the
loop of the river Isle. “Great Périgueux” is composed
of 9 “communes” and has, according to the population
census made in 1999, about 65000 inhabitants whereas Périgueux
itself has about 32500 inhabitants
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