Altillac (; oc, Altilhac) is a commune in the Corrèze

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Altillacois'' or ''Altillacoises''.

Geography

left, View of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne across the river from Altillac Altillac is a large commune located in the central massif of the Dordogne in eastern Nouvelle-Aquitaine (previously the smaller Limousin region until 2016), almost on the border with

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...

(previously Midi-Pyrénées). It was formerly called ''Xaintrie''. It is located some 30 km south-east of

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 7 ...

, 130 km south-west of Clermont-Ferrand, and about 180 km east of Bordeaux. Access to the commune is on road D940 which goes to the village just 1 km east of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne then continues south through the commune to Biars-sur-Cère. The D116E branches south-east from this road to join the D14 east of Gagnac-sur-Cère. There is also the D116 coming from

Brivezac Brivezac (; Limousin: ''Brivasac'') is a former commune in the Corrèze department in central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.La Chapelle-Saint-Géraud in the north-east.Google Maps
/ref> The

Dordogne river The Dordogne (; oc, Dordonha) is a river in south-central and southwest France. It is long. The Dordogne and its watershed were designated Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO on July 11 2012. Geography The river rises on the flanks of the Puy de S ...

forms the western boundary of the commune with some streams from the commune flowing into it including the Ruisseau du Suquet. The eastern border of the commune is formed by the Ruisseau d'Orges which flows south into the Ceres river. The northern border is formed by the Ruisseau de Chauvac which flows west into the Dordogne. The Ruisseau de Laumond on the eastern side also flows east into the Orges as does the Ruisseau de Malaval in the south. There are quite a number of villages and hamlets in the commune. These are: *Andole *Courbignac *Esclaux *Fontmerle *Freyssignes *Gramond *Guilles *L'Aumond *L'Aussac *La Borderie *La Bourelle *La Majorie *La Palide *La Poujade *La Poulvélarie *La Veyssière *Le Rodal *Le Sagrier *Le Treil *Les Escures *Paliole *Siran

History

Altillac was the seat of a

Viguerie In Southern France, a ''viguerie'' (; la, vicaria) was a mediaeval administrative court. A ''viguerie'' is named for the place it serves or is found in, that is, the main town of the borough, which need not be its (administrative capital). Appear ...

under the Carolingian dynasty. On 28 May 1942, the regional prefect of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

requisitioned land from the Chateau of Doux to create an internment centre for Jewish families.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Altillac:

Population

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

*The Chateau du Doux was built in 1904-1906 from plans by

Jean-Louis Pascal Jean-Louis Pascal (4 June 1837 – 17 May 1920) was an academic French architect. Life Born in Paris, Pascal was taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts by Émile Gilbert and Charles-Auguste Questel. He won the Grand Pri ...

. Influenced by the style used in Deauville, it is built in the style of Xaintrie, the nearest town, to serve as a luxury hotel. It is built above a valley and offers views of the surrounding landscape. Different styles are used for the window frames: simple windows, large curved bayss with stone latticework, cross windows, skylights, and ''capucine passantes''. It used local materials to allow it to have a regional air: stones of various colours and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. Inside, the woodwork is

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. *On the other side of the valley is the Doux domain where large farm buildings have been built: huge barns/stables on two levels with many barns built in imitation of small farms, which form a semblance of a hamlet, a henhouse, and a bread oven. All buildings - the hotel and the farm buildings - are certified as heritage of the 20th century. *The Dolmen de la Borderie - a Neolithic

Dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

in good condition.

Religious heritage

*The Church of Saint-Etienne (14th century) is registered as an historical monument. It was built in 1528 except for the bell tower which dates back to the 14th century. The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects: **A set of

Baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

s **Covers for the

s (1700) **Bowls for the

s (12th century) **The panelling in the Choir (1676) **6 Bas-reliefs (1676) **The panelling on the walls (1676)

Personalities

Notable personalities linked to the commune include: * Jean-Antoine Marbot, born 7 December 1754 in Altillac – 19 April 1800: French

divisional general Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

and politician. Father of generals Adolphe and Marcellin Marbot *

Adolphe Marbot Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot ( , ; 22 March 1781 – 2 June 1844), known as Adolphe Marbot, was a French general. He belongs to a family that has distinguished itself particularly in the career of arms, giving three generals to France in les ...

, born 22 March 1781 in Altillac – 2 June 1844: French ''

maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général''). Se ...

'' (brigadier general) * Marcellin Marbot, born 18 August 1782 in Altillac – 16 November 1854: French '' lieutenant-général'' (divisional general), author of the famous ''Memoirs of General Marbot'' *

Marcel Conche Marcel Conche (; 27 March 1922 – 27 February 2022) was a French philosopher and emeritus professor at the Sorbonne University (Paris). Biography Marcel Conche was born in Altillac, France. "Philosophizing ad infinitum" has been published by ...

, born 27 March 1922 in Altillac - 27 February 2022: French

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and professor emeritus of philosophy at the Sorbonne

References

External links

Altillac official website

Altillac on the old National Geographic Institute websiteAltillac on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Altillac'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
, title = Communes and villages surrounding Altillac , Centre = Altillac , North = La Laurie , Northeast = Roupeyroux , East =

Peyrissac Peyrissac (; oc, Pairiçac) is a commune in the Corrèze department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in central France. Geography Located on the Plateau de Millevaches in the Millevaches regional nature park, Peyrissac is a commune of the Massif Centra ...

, Southeast = Longayroux , South = Les Combals-Biars-sur-Cere , Southwest = Le Soulie , West = Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne , Northwest = Le Moulin Abadiol , width = auto {{authority control Communes of Corrèze