History of the Gîte de la Burague
The Périgord, a whole history
The gîtes of Cénac en Périgord are located at the exit of Cénac and Saint-Julien, along a modest communal road which was a Roman road linking Cahors to Limoges by way of Sarlat. It is therefore quiet, but the shops are only a kilometre away. If you enjoy playing the historical yo-yo, you might think that our distant (?) ancestors passed through here at least 400,000 years ago. The first object you will see in the Musée de la Préhistoire in Les Eyzies is of this age, and it was found in Cénac. We are on the south bank of the Dordogne, which is only a few hundred metres away.
From your windows you will see Domme, perched on its rocky outcrop, one of the most beautiful villages in France? Domme is a bastide, a sort of new town built in 1281. Domme is a bastide, a sort of new town built in 1281 and was a few decades later the place where the Templars were imprisoned and left their famous graffiti. Then it was a strategic stake during the Hundred Years' War (1137-1453), then the theatre of the Wars of Religion (1562-1598). In short, a pretty village that is always lively.
This is the charm of the Dordogne: the Gallo-Romans, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the political and religious conflicts, the nearby prehistory, that of Lascauxand the more distant one where Cro Magnon and Neanderthal crossed paths (in every sense of the word) as in Castel-MerleIt's a bit like Alice in Wonderland and a thousand castles. It's a bit like Alice in Wonderland and a thousand castles.
The history of La Burague, here we come!
Closer to home, in 1460, there was a la Burague The main part of the present chartreuse dates from 1758. It was built by Léonard de Grézis, from a family of notables from Domme, doctors for 5 generations. In 1780, Jean-Pierre (Léonard's grandson), who was the first in the line to turn to law, became a lawyer at the Parliament, and then bought the position of Lieutenant of the Presidial of Sarlat. To us the nobility! He was called Lord of Lalburague (La Burague) and Mongrieu. During the Revolution, although a supporter of revolutionary ideas, like many magistrates, he was briefly imprisoned in 1793, then placed under house arrest at La Burague. He died in 1818 after having been mayor of Cénac from 1800 to 1808, and the property was sold by his heirs to two owners at the end of the century. In the 20th century, little is known about the property other than that it was gradually dismembered, the chapel (opposite the Grottes gîte) sold to a private individual who turned it into a dwelling house, and that in the 1980s and 1990s, the fairly dilapidated building was used as a shed by a roofer from Cénac, Mr Terral.
Until about twenty years ago, La Burague was a ruin. The restoration undertaken in 2002 respected the spirit of the place, using the original materials, natural paint and plaster, preserving the roof timbers rising to nearly 8 m in the upstairs rooms. Everything has been done in the traditional way.
Going back only 2000 years, it is a little upstream from the Dordogne, that the last battle of the Gallic War took place - the last village of the irreducibles, so to speak - in a place called Uxelludunum, which constituted for Julius Caesar the final point of the pacification of Gaul. This was the beginning of a Gallo-Roman era in the Périgord, of which we can see the brilliant testimony in Périgueux, the villa Vesunna with a beautiful scenography by Jean Nouvel, another local child.
In short, if you like to travel not only in space, but also in time, you will not only be able to contemplate 40 centuries of history, but also a Prehistory that will hold many surprises for you.
History of the Dordogne department
