Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a commune in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

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

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

, southwestern France. Périgueux is the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of a Roman Catholic

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

History

The name ''Périgueux'' comes from

Petrocorii The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Etymology They are mentioned as ''Petrocoriis'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''P ...

, a Latinization of Celtic words meaning "the four tribes" – the Gallic people that held the area before the Roman conquest. Périgueux was their capital city. In 200 BC, the Petrocorii came from the north and settled at Périgueux and established an encampment at La Boissière. After the Roman invasion, they left this post and established themselves on the plain of L'Isle, and the town of Vesunna was created. This Roman city was eventually embellished with amenities such as temples, baths, amphitheatres, and a forum. At the end of the third century AD, the Roman city was surrounded by ramparts, and the town took the name of Civitas Petrocoriorum. In the 10th century, Le Puy-Saint-Front was constructed around an abbey next to the old Gallo-Roman city. It was organised into a municipality around 1182. During the year 1940, many Jews from Alsace and Alsatians were evacuated to Périgueux.

Simone Mareuil Simone Mareuil (; 25 August 1903 – 24 October 1954) was a French actress best known for appearing in the surrealist film ''Un Chien Andalou''. Born Marie Louise Simone Vacher in Périgueux, Dordogne, she appeared in a number of films, most nota ...

(a lead actress from the surrealist film ''

Un Chien Andalou ''Un Chien Andalou'' (, ''An Andalusian Dog'') is a 1929 French silent short film directed by Luis Buñuel, and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Buñuel's first film, it was initially released in a limited capacity at Studio des Ursuline ...

'') committed self-immolation on 24 October 1954 by dousing herself in gasoline and burning herself to death in a public square in Périgueux.

Geography

The

Isle An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

flows through Périgueux.

Population

In 2018, 30,060 people lived in the town, while its

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

had a population of 113,384.Comparateur de territoire
INSEE, retrieved 20 June 2022.

Sights

Sights include: the remains of a Roman

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

(known locally as the arènes romaines) the centre of which has been turned into a green park with a water fountain; the remains of a temple of the Gallic goddess "Vesunna"; and a luxurious Roman villa, called the "Domus of Vesunna", built around a garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded peristyle now housed in the

Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum The Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum is a museum of Gallo-Roman art and archaeology in the town of Périgueux, located in the French department of the Dordogne. The Gallo-Roman ruins covered by a glass museum was constructed to protect a historical mon ...

Cathedral

The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of St Front was built after 1120 and restored in the 19th century. The history of the church of St Front of Périgueux has given rise to numerous discussions between archaeologists. Félix de Verneihl claims that St Front's was a copy of

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...

in Venice; Quicherat, that it was copied from the church of the Holy Apostles of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. M. Brutails is of the opinion that even if the style of St Front's reveals an imitation of Oriental art, the construction differs altogether from Byzantine methods. The dates 984–1047, often given for the erection of St Front's, he considers too early; he thinks that the present church of St Front was built about 1120–1173, in imitation of a foreign monument by a native local school of architecture which erected the other domed buildings in the south-west of France. The local architect,

Paul Abadie Paul Abadie (9 November 1812 – 3 August 1884) was a French architect and building restorer. He is considered a central representative of French historicism. He was the son of architect Paul Abadie Sr. Abadie worked on the restoration of Not ...

(1812–1884), was responsible for radical changes to St Front's which are no longer appreciated by architects or local residents who prefer the purer Romanesque church of Saint-Étienne de la Cité, the former Cathedral of Périgueux. The cathedral is part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

Transport

Périgueux railway station offers connections to

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 ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

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 ...

, and other regional destinations. The trains are operated by train company

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

Climate

Périgueux has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

( Köppen ''Cfb'') with warm to hot summers combined with cool to mild winters. Périgueux has a mild climate for its latitude and inland position due to the significant

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...

influence on the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

to its west. The resulting maritime air warms winters up, while at the same time it is far enough inland to cause warm summers on average.

Personalities

Périgueux was the birthplace of: * Pierre Daumesnil (1776–1832), general of the First Empire. *

Georges Bégué Georges Pierre André Bégué (22 November 1911 – 18 December 1993),Social Security Death Index code named Bombproof, was a French engineer and agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SO ...

(1911–1993), engineer and agent in the Special Operations Executive * Francine Benoît (1894–1990), composer, music critic and teacher, who gained Portuguese citizenship in 1929. She taught pianist Maria João Pires and composer Emanuel Nunes, amongst others. * William Joseph Chaminade (1761–1850), founder of the Society of Mary (Marianists) and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate *

Patrick Ollier Patrick Ollier (born 17 December 1944) is a French politician. He is the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison. He was a national assembly deputy for Hauts-Alpes's 2nd constituency from 1988 to 2002, as a member of the UMP. Secondly for Hauts-de-Seine's ...

(1944–), politician, President of the National Assembly in 2007. *

Jean Clédat Jean Clédat (7 May 1871 – 29 July 1943) was a French Egyptologist, archaeologist and philologist. He became a resident at the (French Institute of Oriental Archaeology). At various times, Clédat's expeditions was sponsored by (the Suez ...

(1871–1943), Egyptologist, archaeologist and philologist. *

Ketty Kerviel Ketty Kerviel, real name Antoinette Verenghien (2 May 1916 - 14 November 2009), was a French actress. Filmography * 1939 : '' Yamilé sous les cèdres'' by Charles d'Espinay * 1945 : ''La Grande Meute'' by Jean de Limur * 1947 : '' Les Trois ...

(1916–2009), film actress *

Nicole Duclos Nicole Duclos (née Salavert; born 15 August 1947) is a French former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres. She broke the world record for the event in 1969, running 51.77 seconds to become European champion in 1969. She also sha ...

born Salavert (1947–), athlete. *

Rachilde Rachilde was the pen name and preferred identity of novelist and playwright Marguerite Vallette-Eymery (11 February 1860 – 4 April 1953). Born near Périgueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France during the Second French Empire, Rachilde went on t ...

(1860–1953), writer associated with the Decadent and

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

movements. * Julien Dupuy (1983–), rugby union player. *

Greg Mathias Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

(1967–), artist and sculptor, member of the Neo Cubist school of art. * René Thomas (1886–1975), racing driver, winner of the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

International relations

Périgueux is twinned with: *

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...

, Germany

Notes

References

External links

*
City council of Périgueux

reports on culture and people in Périgueux

Web site of the Périgord

Perigueux-city.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perigueux Communes of Dordogne Dordogne communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Prefectures in France Périgord