Dordogne

Town property guides

• Bergerac
• Excideuil
• Eymet
• Hautefort
• La Coquille
• Neuvic
• Nontron
• Perigueux
• Piegut Pluviers
• Riberac
• Sarlat la Caneda
• Thenon

Climate:

The weather in this area is much milder than in England. The weather is warm from the middle of April till the end of October and even November. Most of the rain falls in December and March.

The winters are mild and the summer temperature averages 7 degrees higher than the one in the UK. The temperature is different for every region. The summer is long and can be very hot.

Geography:

This department is part of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region and is surrounded by the departments of Haute-Vienne, Correze, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Gironde, and Charente. It is the third largest department in France.

It is even one of the most beautiful and famous regions. It consists of chateaux, forests and gardens, medieval towns and villages, countryside, rivers and caves. Because of that many tourists come to this area. Tourism is a leading industry.

There are many interesting places in Dordogne like the Lascaux caves, the Marqueyssac gardens, the medieval Sarlat, the Chateau Castelnaud, the prehistoric caves in the Vezere Valley, and many others.

This region is situated between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées and is named after the river that runs through it. Locally it is known as the Perigord.

The Dordogne has four distinct regions: the Perigord Vert (green Perigord) in the north, the Perigord Blanc (white Perigord) in the centre, the Perigord Noir (black Perigord) in the southeast and the Perigord Poupre (purple Perigord) in the southwest.

The Perigord Vert in the north has wild landscape made up of greenery due to its humid climate.
Further south you will find the Perigord Blanc which gains its name from its limestone plateaux. This area is home to a medieval town called Périgueux, which is the capital of Dordogne.

The Perigord Noir in the southeast is the most famous of the four regions. It has numerous medieval villages and castles, many of which are situated on the high rocky banks of the Dordogne River, which in great winding curves meanders through oak, walnut and chestnut forests.

Finally, the Perigord Poupre, so called due to its famous vineyards, which produce some of the best wines in France, has a very different landscape with numerous vineyards and tobacco and maize fields.

Towns:

Besides the castles, chateaux, churches there are also Bastides and cave fortresses. With ages there are preserved some wonderful villages with market halls, dovecotes Tories or stone huts, church, abbey and castle. Beautiful architecture can be seen in Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere, Conclat, Saint-Jefm-de-Cole, La Roque-Gageac and many others. The old quarters of Perigueux or Bergerac are turned into pedestrian areas. Some small towns like Brantôme, Issigeac. Eymet and Mareuil have with-stood that is changed with modern times.

History:

Dordogne is one of the 83 departments that were established during the French revolution on March 4, 1790. It was previously part of the former province of Perigord.

This area has a rich history. All over the territory you can see a lot of caves, castles, culture and heritage.

There are important periods during the development of the region.

The first inhabitants of the region date back from almost 500,000 years ago and last for 2500 years. Later there were some invasions in the region. The Celts passed and after that the Romans invaded. After that the vandals came from the east and overtook the Romans. There were many wars with the English especially during the middle ages and the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religion. Because of the many wars the region suffered from extreme poverty and there were peasant revolts during the 16th and 18th century. After that came the French revolution and the period of Napoleon.

Gastronomy:

This region is a country’s supplier of fine produce like wines, cèpes, truffles, duck and goose form which many dishes are made like foie gras and Demoiselle this is a whole bird being grilled over a wood fire.

Maps of Dordogne:
www.ign.fr
www.maps.google.fr

Travel from the UK
Dordogne is served by the airports of Biarritz, Pau, Bordeaux, Bergerac, Limoges and Agen.
Budget airlines such as Ryanair fly everyday to Biarritz, Pau Bergerac and Limoges.

Our team of sale advisers at Sextant Properties will be happy to help you to find a property in Dordogne. We have a large network of estate agents in Dordogne. All of them are registered French estate agents and speak both French and English. Whatever kind of property you are looking for: farmhouse, longere, barn, gite, B&B, country house, mill, castle or chateau, we will do our best to find a property in Dordogne matching your requirements. To find out more about our properties for sale in Dordogne do not hesitate to contact us.