Périgueux Towns, Villages and bastides in Périgueux

Geographically, Périgueux occupies a central position in Périgord. With more than 31,000 inhabitants, it fulfills all the central functions of a prefectural city, department capital. An administrative and service center, it is its beating heart through its tourist, cultural, heritage and commercial appeal. A showcase of economic, social and cultural life, Périgueux acts in a double movement, it brings together and shines.

Nestled in the loops of the Isle, protected by its hills, this town in the countryside claims its status as the Capital of Périgord.

A CITY MORE THAN TWICE A MILLENNIUM:

If Périgueux and its immediate surroundings were already occupied at the origins of Humanity, the first city, named Vesunna (name of a Gallic tutelary divinity whose rite was preserved by the Romans), dates from the 1st century BC. during the Roman occupation in Gaul. In the hollow of seven hills, "little Rome" extends in the loop of the Isle River and becomes the Roman capital of the city of the Petrocores. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire experienced serious difficulties and Vesunna took refuge inside a wall built at the end of the 3rd century with the dismantled blocks of the great monuments which made it famous. Around the 10th century, a monastic center frequented by pilgrims was formed on the hill overlooking the river around the sanctuary of Saint Front, evangelizer of Périgord.

A fortified town of monks, merchants and artisans was formed and became a major stopover for pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela.
Between the Count of the City, anxious to preserve his authority, and the bourgeois of Puy Saint-Front, there were numerous rivalries. An act of union gave birth to the city of Périgueux in 1240 under the reign of Saint Louis.

The high Saint-Front cathedral with Byzantine accents marks, like a lookout, the identity of Périgueux and its heritage. It has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site on the routes to Santiago de Compostela since 1998.

During the Renaissance, Périgueux continued to develop and became an even more important trading crossroads in the region. Neither the uprisings of the crunchers nor the Revolution damaged the commercial reputation of the city, but it lost its power after the wars of religion.

Having become Prefecture of the department, it was the arrival of the railway, under the Second Empire, which attracted new inhabitants. The population practically doubles in 30 years. The surface area of the city increases, leading to the stretching of the urban perimeter. Far from the theater of conflict, the population of the Dordogne nonetheless suffered the consequences of the Great War. The economy must support the war effort: the railway workshops become “National Defense Workshops” and manufacture shells. During the Second World War, the city, located in a free zone, hosted several Resistance networks.

VARIED URBAN LANDSCAPES:

The Roman city

It was born at the foot of the hills, on the right bank of the loop of the Isle, around 16 BC. In the 2nd century, it extended over 82 hectares and presented all the characteristics of a little Rome. Three centuries later, political and military crises, epidemics and the first invasions led to a decline in population. Vesunna retreats behind its ramparts and its surface area is reduced to 6.5 hectares. Today, Gallo-Roman remains are still visible: the Tower of Vésone and the domus (current Vesunna museum site), the amphitheater (current garden
Arenas).

The medieval town

Its uniqueness comes from its composition around two enclosed centers, the Cité and Puy Saint-Front, around which suburbs develop. The protected area offers an idea of this interlacing of streets, with its wooden houses and stone mansions. The protected area, created in 1970, extends over more than 20 hectares and concerns Puy Saint-Front in its pedestrian sector, rue Limogeanne and all the streets around the Mataguerre Tower.

The modern city

In the 18th century, the intendant of Guyenne, Louis-Urbain de Tourny, had squares built, avenues opened and the dismantling of the old fortifications begun. The ditches and ramparts to the north of the town are followed by the vast Allée de Tourny mall. In 1826, a young 20-year-old Parisian architect, Louis-Baptiste Catoire, shook up the city's land plot. Drawing new horizons to the West, he finished destroying the corset of ramparts.

The contemporary city

At the end of the Second World War, a beautification project was presented with the development of the new Sainte-Ursule district, the new theater.
The demolition of the "Rues Neuves" district at the foot of the cathedral led, until the 1970s, to the movement of many families to the Campniac and Gour-de-l'Arche districts. In the city center, new urban spaces are appearing such as Places Saint-Louis and Francheville.

A SWEET CITY:

Périgueux deploys its urban figures in a green setting where forests and fields create a rural geometry in the vicinity of the city that is visible and perceptible in all places. The Capital of Périgord can be experienced at eye level, Périgueux is a gentle city. The gentle city is parks, gardens and markets, the pacification of the center, equitable sharing of the street. It is also a consideration of the well-being of residents through the provision of quality services and permanent vigilance regarding security and tranquility. The gentle city is the search for harmony, an art of living the city in the countryside by following the rhythms of nature.

Discover the museums:

• www.perigueux-vesunna.fr
• www.perigueux-maap.fr
• https://www.museemilitaire-perigord.fr/

Tourist information:

• https://www.destination-perigueux.fr/