Saint-Céré (;

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian, or Lengadocian () is an Occitan language, Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Lang ...

: ''Sant Seren'') is a commune in the Lot department, southern France. The commune includes within its borders the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

of Saint-Laurent-les-Tours, where the artist

Jean Lurçat Jean Lurçat (; 1 July 1892 – 6 January 1966) was a French artist noted for his role in the revival of contemporary tapestry. Biography He was born in Bruyères, Vosges, the son of Lucien Jean Baptiste Lurçat and Marie Emilie Marguerite ...

lived and worked for many years, and from which he operated a secret radio for the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. The castle still houses a collection of his works.

Toponymy

Saint-Céré is based on the Christian hagiotoponym of Serenus of Marseille. During the French Revolution, the commune bore the name of Franc-Céré and Sen Céré (or Seu-Céré). In Occitan, the name of the municipality is Sant Seren.

History

The town's creation originates around the following legend. Spérie, the daughter of Serenus, the lord of the area around Saint-Cere, had dedicated herself to God. Around 760, Spérie was condemned by her brother Clarus and had her head cut off by him after she refused several requests to marry the neighbouring lord Ellidius, whom Clarus was in dispute with, and whom she regarded as a pagan. She stood up, retrieved her head, and went to wash it in a clear spring. A chapel was built to house the location of her tomb, and to accommodate the pilgrims who came in crowds. The chapel became a church in the 11th century. In 1178, the lord of the land around the town,

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

, became the vassals of the Viscount of Turenne until 1738. The Turenne's granted various charters to the town giving it privileges and rights starting in 1292 and again in 1464, 1490, and 1642. The charter of 1464 allowed the town to be run by

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

s and the right to build a town wall, gates, and moats. During the Hundred Year's War, the English kings controlled the town in 1259 and 1290 as the Turennes aligned themselves with the former. And from 1369 until 1378, the town was controlled by

routiers Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is partic ...

under Bernard de la Salle. In the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, it was briefly besieged and occupied by Protestant forces in 1574. By the 1700s, the town roads and squares were enlarged, quays built, and the walls torn down. In 1738, the Viscounty of Turenne, and its towns including Saint Cere, and lands were sold to pay a debt, and bought by and returned to, the control of the king of France. During the French Revolution, the department of the Lot was created in 1790, and the town briefly became one of six district towns and called Cere-la-Montagne.

Geography

Location

The town is located in the centre of a small metropolitan area, in the

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

, northeast of the Causse de Gramat and west of Segala, between Lacapelle-Marival and Bretenoux, in the valley of the Bave, tributary of the

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 ...

river, and on the northern edge of the Limargue. It is the city-centre of the

urban unit In France, an urban unit () is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grou ...

of Saint-Céré. Located at the crossroad of the routes to

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

and Quercy, Saint-Céré is a sought after place to stay due to its location and an excellent point of departure for many walks and excursions in the Haut-Quercy.

Hydrography

The Bave river, a tributary of the Dordogne, flows through the town.

Geology and relief

The area of the commune is 1,133 hectares; its altitude varies from 141 to 523 meters. At the town hall, the altitude of Saint-Céré is 155 meters. It rises from 141 meters at Bave river to 523 meters in the southern part of the commune.

Climate

Saint-Céré has the distinction of being at the junction of the three types of temperate climates: there is a Temperate Oceanic climate, with Mediterranean and Continental influences, characterised by a dry and hot summer, a sunny autumn, a mild winter. In the shelter of the foothills of the Massif Central, the Vent d'Autan is here moderate.

Population

Local culture and heritage

* La place du Mercadial, its fountain and the 15th century Consuls' House, which was declared a historic monument in 1991 * L'hôtel de Puymule, 15th-century, was listed as a historical monument in 1929 * L'hôtel de Miramon * La maison consulaire * Several wood-panelled houses * Église Sainte-Spérie, dating from the 10th century, inscribed as a historical monument in 1979 * Église des Récollets, 17th century, listed as a historic monument in 1973 * Statue of Marshal Canrobert * Statue of Charles Bourseul (1924) by Giovanni Pinotti Cipriani (also sculptor of the monument to the dead in the square of the Place de la République) * Château de Montal, 14th-century, listed as a historical monument in 1909. The domain is partly located in the commune of Saint-Jean-Lespinasse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Cere Saintcere Quercy