The Périgord noir (, literally ''Black Périgord''), also known as Sarladais, is a traditional

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which corresponds roughly to the Southeast of the current

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 ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'', now forming the eastern part of the

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 ...

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...

''. It is centered around the town of

Sarlat-la-Canéda Sarlat-la-Canéda (; oc, Sarlat e La Canedat), commonly known as Sarlat, is a commune in the southwestern French department of Dordogne, a part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Sarlat and La Canéda were distinct towns until merged into one commune in 196 ...

Etymology

The name Périgord noir (black Périgord ) is derived from the dark colour of its evergreen oak forests (''Quercus ilex'') and also from the dark, fertile soil in the Sarladais, not, as is often asserted, from the

black truffle ''Tuber melanosporum'', called the black truffle, Périgord truffle or French black truffle, is a species of truffle native to Southern Europe. It is one of the most expensive edible mushrooms in the world. Taxonomy Italian naturalist Carlo Vi ...

. Historically, the Périgord noir was the oldest of the four subdivisions of the Périgord.

Geography

Geographically the Périgord noir takes up the Southeast of the Dordogne département. It is surrounded by the following natural regions: * Périgord central and Brive basin in the North *

Causse de Martel The Causses () are a group of limestone plateaus (700–1,200 m) in the Massif Central. They are bordered to the north-west by the Limousin and the Périgord uplands, and to the east by the Aubrac and the Cévennes. Large river gorges cut through ...

and

Causse de Gramat The Causses () are a group of limestone plateaus (700–1,200 m) in the Massif Central. They are bordered to the north-west by the Limousin and the Périgord uplands, and to the east by the Aubrac and the Cévennes. Large river gorges cut through ...

in the East *

Bouriane Bouriane is a natural region of France located in the department of Lot, but with a smaller part in Lot-et-Garonne. Its capital is the small town of Gourdon.Haut-Agenais and Bergeracois in the West. Further natural subdivisions within the Périgord noir are: * the woodlands of the Barade * the woodlands of the Bessède * Pays au Bois * Pays de Fénelon * Pays de Lémance The term Périgord noir has to be clearly distinguished from the similar term Pays du Périgord noir used mainly in tourism. The term Pays du Périgord noir is much broader than Périgord noir, as it includes the Pays d'Hautefort further North, which is normally attributed to the Périgord central.

Administration

In administrative terms the Périgord noir is covered today mainly by the

Arrondissement of Sarlat-la-Canéda The arrondissement of Sarlat-la-Canéda is an arrondissement in France in the Dordogne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has 136 communes. Its population is 81,863 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondiss ...

. The following

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

constitute the Périgord noir: *

Canton of Sarlat-la-Canéda The canton of Sarlat-la-Canéda is an administrative division of the Dordogne department, southwestern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Sarlat-la-Canéda. It ...

Canton of Terrasson-Lavilledieu The canton of Terrasson-Lavilledieu is an administrative division of the Dordogne department, southwestern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Terrasson-Lavilled ...

Canton of Vallée Dordogne The Cantons of France, canton of Vallée Dordogne is an administrative division of the Dordogne departments of France, department, southwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat ...

Canton of Vallée de l'Homme The Cantons of France, canton of Vallée de l'Homme is an administrative division of the Dordogne departments of France, department, southwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its se ...

The

Canton of Haut-Périgord Noir The canton of Haut-Périgord Noir is an administrative division of the Dordogne department, southwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Thenon. It consists of the fo ...

is only partially represented.

Hydrography

The

traverses the Périgord noir about centrally from East to West. The

Vézère The Vézère (; oc, Vesera) is a 211-km-long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to the Dordogne. Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the Massif Central. It flows into the Dordogne near ...

originates to the Northeast, traverses the northwestern part of the Périgord noir and joins the Dordogne near

Limeuil Limeuil (; oc, Limuèlh) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Limeuil village is located at the confluence of the Dordogne and Vézère rivers. Historically this location at the meeting of the t ...

as a right tributary. Both rivers

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

, well known examples for the Dordogne are ''Cingle de Montfort'' and ''Cingle de Trémolat''. The base level of both rivers is at an elevation between 70 and 40 meters, whereas the undulating surrounding sedimentary succession can reach elevations of 349 meters — but is situated on average closer to 200 meters. Both streams have therefore incised the sediments by about 150 meters. Tributaries of the Dordogne are

Borrèze Borrèze (; oc, Boresa) is a commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Dordogne département The following is a list of the 503 communes of the Dordogne department of France. The commun ...

, Énéa and Doux (from the right) as well as Marcillande (Germaine),

Céou The Céou () is a long river in the Lot and Dordogne ''départements'', southwestern France. Its source is at Séniergues, southwest of Rocamadour. It flows generally northwest. It is a left tributary of the Dordogne into which it flows at Caste ...

, Nauze and Bélingou (from the left). The Vézère is joined by the

Laurence Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...

, Thonac, Moustier and

Manaurie Manaurie (; oc, Manàuria) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Les Eyzies.Coly and Beune from the left.

Geology

Geologically, the Périgord noir area is situated entirely in a sequence of gently southwest-dipping sediments that form part of the Aquitaine Basin. The series comprises

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

. The river valleys are infilled by alluvial sediments of

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

age. The Jurassic sediments belong to the inner platform facies and consist of limestones,

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

s and

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

s. The limestones feature micrites, sparites, oolites and also limestones rich in

siliciclastic Siliciclastic (or ''siliclastic'') rocks are clastic noncarbonate sedimentary rocks that are composed primarily of silicate minerals, such as quartz or clay minerals. Siliciclasic rock types include mudrock, sandstone Sandstone is a clastic ...

s that were deposited near the shoreface. The marls were formed near the continent and are occasionally rather rich in

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

, once mined near Allas-les-Mines. The Jurassic rocks crop out along the northern edge of the Périgord noir near

Terrasson-Lavilledieu Terrasson-Lavilledieu (; oc, Terrasson e La Vila Dieu) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The commune was created in 1963 by the merger of the former communes Terrasson and Lavilledieu. Terrass ...

, where they are separated from the Upper Cretaceous by the southeast-striking Cassagne Fault. They are also found within the Saint-Cyprien Anticline — a southeast-striking tectonic upwarp near

Le Bugue Le Bugue (; oc, Al Buga or ''Lo Buga'') is a commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France. Geography Le Bugue is located on the banks of the river Vézère a few kilometres before the confluence of the Vézère with the Dordogne at ...

and Saint-Cyprien. Beyond the eastern perimeter of the Périgord noir they constitute the Causse de Martel. The Upper Cretaceous forms a slight discordance with the underlying Middle and Upper Jurassic sediments east of Sarlat. Due to the upwarp of the Saint-Cyprien Anticline the Upper Cretaceous sediments are folded into a very gentle

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

. They mainly consist of limestones and are often

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

ified. Stratigraphically they range from

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

to Campanian and cover the biggest part of the Périgord noir. In places the Upper Cretaceous is overlain by continental molasse sediments of Eocene and Oligocene age, as can be seen for instance in the woodlands of the ''Forêt de la Bessède'' near

Le Buisson-de-Cadouin Le Buisson-de-Cadouin (; ) is a commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France. It is situated on the left bank of the river Dordogne. The Gare du Buisson is a railway junction, with connections to Bordeaux, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Agen an ...

. The molasse are stream and lake deposits. The northern limit of the Périgord noir is marked by the southsoutheast to southeast striking Condat Fault, which has raised a crystalline

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

block of the Massif Central — the horst of Châtres — right through the Jurassic sediments.

History

The Périgord noir is well known for its abundance in prehistoric

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s and

abri A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...

s like

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...

Rouffignac Rouffignac () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population See also * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department The following is a list of the 463 communes of the Charente-Maritime department of Fr ...

or Cro Magnon — all situated relatively close to

Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (; oc, Las Aisiás de Taiac e Siruèlh) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Les Eyzies.Roque Saint-Christophe The Roque Saint-Christophe is a big rock formation with Rock shelters (''abris sous-roche'' in French) at the river Vézère, near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne. It is located near the route D706 from Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, at Tursac in the Dor ...

near the archeological site of

Le Moustier Le Moustier is an archeological site consisting of two rock shelters in Peyzac-le-Moustier, a village in the Dordogne, France. It is known for a complete skeleton of the species ''Homo neanderthalensis'' that was discovered in 1908. The Mousteri ...

. Archeological studies have been conducted in the Périgord noir since the 19th century and underline the importance of the Vézère valley for

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

. Just in the vicinity of Les Eyzies 147 sites are clustered, with ages reaching 40.000 years and more. This is the reason, why the new Musée national de Préhistoire was established there. Several prehistoric sites in the Périgord noir have rendered their names for archeological cultures like Mousterian, Micoquian, Périgordian and

Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...

. Besides the medieval towns Sarlat and Domme many classified settlements are preserved. Examples are

Belvès Belvès (; Languedocien dialect, Languedocien: ''Belvés'') is a former Communes of France, commune in the Dordogne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Pays-de-Belvès.

Beynac Beynac (; oc, Beinac) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central-western France. Inhabitants are known as ''Beynacois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Haute-Vienne department The following i ...

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle Castelnaud-la-Chapelle (; oc, Castelnòu e La Capèla) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle is located in the commune. Geography The river Céou flows nor ...

La Roque-Gageac La Roque-Gageac (; oc, La Ròca de Gajac) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Perched above the river Dordogne, the village is a member of the ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'' ("The most beau ...

, Saint-Amand-de-Coly and

Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère (, literally ''Saint-Léon on Vézère''; oc, Sent Leu de Vesera) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Views File:Château de Chabans 2004.jpg File:Saint-L� ...

. The rich cultural heritage of the Périgord noir is also manifested in many castles, châteaus, churches and abbeys, like for instance

Château de Beynac The Château de Beynac is a castle situated in the ''commune'' of Beynac-et-Cazenac, in the Dordogne ''département'' of France. The castle is one of the best-preserved and best known in the region. This Middle Ages construction, with its auster ...

Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle The Château de Castelnaud is a medieval fortress in the commune of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, overlooking the river Dordogne in Périgord, southern France. It was erected to face its rival, the Château de Beynac. History The oldest documents ment ...

Château des Milandes The Château des Milandes is a manor house in the ''commune'' of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle in the Dordogne ''département'' of France. Built by François de Caumont around 1489, it was, until 1535, the main house of the lords of Caumont, who preferre ...

, the church Saint-Martin de Besse and Cadouin Abbey. During the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

(1337 till 1453) the Périgord noir witnessed many battles between the English and French kings and the region was devastated several times. A good example is the Château de Carlux which was under attack several times and finally got burnt down by the English in 1406. The population was diminished severely during the war and despite attempts in the 15th and 16th century to revitalize the economy again the region never fully recovered and kept suffering from the sequels of the war. The

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

(1562 till 1598) have also left their marks on the Périgord noir.

Gallery

Sarlat - Place de la Liberté.jpg, Sarlat-la-Canéda Musée national de Préhistoire (Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil).jpg, Musée national de Préhistoire in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil Montignac.jpg, Montignac and the Vézère Roque saint christophe1.jpg, Abri Roque Saint Christophe in

Peyzac-le-Moustier Peyzac-le-Moustier () is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is known for the nearby archeological site of Le Moustier, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Population See also *Roque Saint-C ...

Castelnaudlachapelle.jpg, Château de Castelnaud Besse - Eglise Saint-Martin-2.JPG, Church Saint-Martin in Besse Abbaye de Cadouin 2007-08-03.jpg, Cadouin Abbey