Welcome to our next installment of our two year series of 'Better Know a Department!'. This week we will focus our attention on department number 28...DORDOGNE. Dordogne is located in the Southwest of France between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées. It is named after the large river that runs through it. Locally the department is known as Périgord because it was created from the former province of Périgord . The term Périgord is the derivation of the Gaulish word for four tribes. There are four Périgords in the Dordogne department:
'Périgord vert'--is full of green valleys with many rivers and streams. The main town is Nontron.
'Périgord Blanc'--is a region full of limestone plateaux, wide valleys and meadows. This area is situated around the regions capital, Périgueux.
'Périgord Pourpre' --this Périgord is well known for its wines. The capital of this area is Bergerac...don't deny that you didn't start thinking about Cyrano de Bergerac after reading that.
'Périgord Noir'--this Périgord looks over the Dordogne and Vézère valleys. The capital of this area is Sarlat.
These four Périgords make up the four arrondissements of the beautiful Dordogne department. This department is situated in the Aquitaine region of France and because of that it oscitllated between the French and British rule for many years. This department alone contains over 1,000 castles, of which almost all were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. In addition to these castles the Dordogne department is home to many small villages preserved in the same condition as they were centuries ago with their market hall, dovecotes (a building used to house doves and pigeons because these birds would nest there and then the people would use those birds as a source of food; Pigeon...it's whats for dinner) , Tories (stone huts), church, abbey and castle.
This department is also home to the Lascaux caves, which are famous for their prehistoric cave paintings which date back 16,000 years. Lascaux is a set of complex caves that we
re discovered on 12 December 1940 (almost exactly 68 years ago). But, if you happen to go to the Dordogne department and visit Lascaux you are actually visiting a replica (Lascaux II, which opened in 1983 200 meters from the original) because the orginal was closed to the public in 1963 because the paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide produced by the 1200 visitors per day.
re discovered on 12 December 1940 (almost exactly 68 years ago). But, if you happen to go to the Dordogne department and visit Lascaux you are actually visiting a replica (Lascaux II, which opened in 1983 200 meters from the original) because the orginal was closed to the public in 1963 because the paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide produced by the 1200 visitors per day.
