Châlus (; ) is a commune in the

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...

department in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

Richard I, King of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

was besieging Châlus in 1199 when Pierre Basile wounded him with a

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

bolt; Richard died of the wound. In 1275-1280, Géraud de Maumont built a second castle, Châlus Maulmont, in front of Châlus Chabrol. Chateau Châlus Maulmont was damaged extensively during the French Revolution, and was dismantled in 1790, then used as a prison. The tower of Châlus Maulmont collapsed on 20 March 1994. By 1745, the first map, in the 1/8628th, of Châlus is established to appear in the atlas of Trudaine for the majority of Limoges, with the portion of road at the level of La-Ribière going to Châlus of the Big road from Limoges to Périgueux and with the portion of road reaching the majority of Périgord. During the First World War, in 1917, American troops stationed in Chalus and maintained contacts with the population. Tradition reports that the American soldiers dynamited the rock of Richard Heart of Lion in order to bring back a portion in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She also reports that an Alsatian refugee provoked a public scandal by addressing the one who had just attempted her reputation: Dare once to repeat that you saw me beat by an American! T. E. Lawrence, who would later be known as Lawrence of Arabia, celebrated his 20th birthday at the former ''Grand Hôtel du Midi, Place de la Fountain'', on 16 August 1908, whilst tracing the route of Richard I of England, on a cycling tour of France in preparation for his thesis: ''The Influence of the crusades on the European military architecture at the end of the XIIth century''. Châlus constitutes the framework or the geographical reference of novels and essays, such as ''Women who fall'' from

Pierre Desproges Pierre Desproges (; 9 May 1939 – 18 April 1988) was a French humorist. He was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. According to himself, he made no significant achievements before the age of 30. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as: life insurance s ...

, or ''Quadrille on the tower'' of Georges-Emmanuel Clancier. She is also quoted in Robert Margerit's ''Land of Wolves'', as well as in ''Volume 7, When a King Loses France, Cursed Kings'' of Maurice Druon or in the ''Richard Lionheart'' of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. Twice, in 1976 and 2010, the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

cinema evokes Chalus. The film ''La Rose et la Flèche / Robin and Marian'' (1976), with

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

and

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

, opens on the siege of Châlus by Richard Cœur de Lion, played by

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

. The first few minutes of Ridley Scott's ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'', with

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

and

Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...

, opening the 2010

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, restore the battle of Châlus.

Regional Nature Park
Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...
-Limousin

Châlus is located in the Périgord-Limousin Regional Nature Park, a public establishment created in 1998 to protect and develop a large rural area with 50,500 inhabitants over 180,000 hectares and which includes 78 municipalities (More than one "associated territory", the lakes of Haute-

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

), two départements (

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

and Haute-Vienne), and formerly two regions,

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

and Limousin, merged into one in 2016:

. According to its two fundamental principles "Better living on a quality territory" and "Better living through controlled development", the park aims to protect and enhance the natural, cultural and human heritage of its territory by implementing a policy Development and economic, social and cultural development. Its actions are also aimed at enhancing local resources with a view to sustainable development, improving the quality of water and hydrosystems at the level of the three headlands of the Périgord-Limousin watersheds, preserving the Biodiversity and the fight against global warming. The headquarters of this public establishment, which endeavors to boost the identity and social ties of the Périgord-Limousin region, is located in the Mas-Nadaud castle in Pageas.

Sights

Châlus has a castle named

Château de Châlus-Chabrol The Château de Châlus-Chabrol (Occitan language, Occitan Limousin : ''Chasteu de Chasluç-Chabròl'') is a castle in the ''Communes of France, commune'' of Châlus in the ''Departments of France, département'' of Haute-Vienne, France. The ca ...

and a ruined castle named Château de Châlus-Maulmont. Richard's entrails are still preserved in the chapel, and there is a medieval garden. Other attractions of the village include a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

dedicated to the

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

. The biggest

Giant sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

(''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') in Europe, with a circumference of 13.3 m, is in a private garden.Paronomio, th
Giant sequoia of Châlus
Inhabitants are known as ''Chalusiens''.

Personalities

* Aymery of Châlus (died 31 October 1349 in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

), canon of the chapter of Limoges Cathedral in 1314, archbishop of Ravenna in 1322, then

bishop of Chartres The oldest known list of bishops of Chartres is found in an 11th-century manuscript of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme. It includes 57 names from Adventus (Saint Aventin) to Aguiertus (Agobert) who died in 1060. The most well-known list is included in the ...

in 1332, cardinal in 1342, named legate in Lombardy in 1342, then in

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, then in Sicily where he steered 2-year-old in the name of the pope, was born in Châlus. * Pierre de Châlus (died in February 1352), abbot of Cluny. * Robert de Châlus (killed in the

battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a Kingdom of France, French army commanded by King John II of France, King JohnII and an Kingdom of England, Anglo-Gascony, Gascon force under Edward the Black Prince, Edward, the ...

on 19 September 1356). * Louis I of Bourbon count of Busset, baron of Busset, Châlus, Vésignieux, Saint-Martin-du-Puy (born on 18 October 1648; killed in the siége of

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

on 10 November 1677). * Gaspard-Louis de Bourbon, count of Châlus (born on 16 May 1745; died in Bets on 8 December 1751, interred in the cathedral

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

). *

* Jean-Claude Peyronnet, born on 7 November 1940 in Châlus, is a French politician. *

Nathanaël de Rincquesen Nathanaël de Rincquesen, born Nathanaël de Willecot de Rincquesen on 9 March 1972 in Paris is a French journalist and Television presenter, TV presenter. Biography A former student of college ''Langevin-Wallon'' at Saint-Gratien, Val-d'Oise ...

, born Nathanaël de Willecot de Rincquesen on 9 March 1972 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, is a French journalist and television presenter with strong ties to Châlus in Limousin * Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, (1914) - Writer, poet, several works refer to Châlus (Terres de mémoires, Quadrille sur la tour, L'Enfant double, etc.) * Thomas Edward Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935) - Preparing his thesis on The Influence of the Crusades in European Military Architecture at the End of the Twelfth Century, celebrated his 20th birthday, 16 August 1908, in The old Grand Hôtel du midi174, during its tour of France by bicycle Raymond de Châlus takes part in the 1st crusade of Saint Louis in 1250.

History

Regional Nature Park Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...-Limousin

Sights

Personalities

See also

Regional Nature Park
Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...
-Limousin