Sainte-Orse (; oc, Senta Orsa) is a
commune in the
Dordogne 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
Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern
France. The church of Saint Ursus (''Saint Ours'') dates from the 11th-12th century. The castle dates from the 15th-16th century.
Population
Village history
The first written reference of the town is the village church, "Sancta Ursa" recorded in the year 1072. The "
Cassini map
The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Ca ...
" of
France between 1756 and 1789, shows the village under the name of "'Saint Orse"', and during the
revolutionary period of the
National Convention (1792-1795), the name was "Orse-le-Pierreux".
Landmarks
A number of historic buildings are located in the town:
* Church of Saint-Ours, 11th or 12th century
Romanesque Church with a 19th-century
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
. It is listed as a historical monument since 1970.
* Several
Merovingian sarcophagi.
* The
Church also preserves a relic of
Pope John Paul II (a piece of the belt of the former
Pontiff).
* Château de Sainte-Orse, 15th and 16th centuries.
[Guy Penaud, Dictionnaire des châteaux du Périgord (Sud Ouest, 1996) p. 255.]
* La Salle gentilhommiere, 18th century, today a school.
* 18th century
Manor of La Faye.
* Château de Laudonie Den of Peyre-brune.
See also
*
Communes of the Dordogne department
References
Communes of Dordogne
{{Dordogne-geo-stub