The Vézère (; ) is a 211-km-long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to 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 ...

. Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the Massif Central. It flows into the Dordogne from the right near Le Bugue. The river

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

is a tributary of the Vézère. The Vézère Valley is famed for its prehistoric cave systems, containing numerous cave paintings and hominid remains.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

collectively designated these a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1979. Among the sites with remarkable caves is

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, Dordogne, Montignac, in the Departments of France, department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 Parietal art, parietal cave painting, wall paintin ...

Geography

The Vézère takes its source in the bog of Longéroux, on the plateau of Millevaches, in the Massif Central in Corrèze, at 887 meters above sea level, in the commune of Meymac, west of the ''Puy Pendu'' (973 m) in the forest of Longéroux, at the place called ''sources de la Vézère''. It flows into the Dordogne on the right bank at Limeuil, at an altitude of 50 metres. Its main tributary is the Corrèze; their confluence is located in the western suburbs of Brive-la-Gaillarde. Other tributaries are the Loyre, the Bradascou and the Brézou. The length of the Vézère is 211.2 km.

Departments and main communes crossed

It flows southwest through the following departments and cities: * In

: Pérols-sur-Vézère, Bugeat,

Uzerche Uzerche (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Corrèze Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region of central France. In 1787, the English writer Arthur Young described the town as "the pearl of ...

, Vigeois,

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, 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 aggl ...

* In

: Montignac, Terrasson-Lavilledieu,

Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (; ) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It was created in 1973 by the merger of two former communes: Les Eyzies-de-Tayac and Sireuil. On 1 January 2019, it wa ...

, Le Bugue

Facilities

The Vézère to Uzerche. In its upstream part, the Vézère has three major dams: the dam of ''Monceaux la Virolle'' (or ''de Monceaux la Virole''), the barrage at Treignac, located between 500 and 650 meters above sea level, and the dam at Saillant, a little lower.

Hydronymy

The river Visera is attested in

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

monastic medieval manuscripts in 889. It should not be confused in the Dordogne with the Upper Vézère, or Auvézère, a tributary of the ''L'Isle'', 10 kilometers east of

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

. The name Vézère comes, according to some scholars, from the ancient hydronym Vizara or Izara, formed by two contiguous Ligurian roots. The first, ''viz'' or ''iz'', and the second ''ara''. ''Viz'' or ''Iz'' means a "hollow Valley", and ''ara'' means a "watercourse", the word ''Vézère'' means "streams in the hollow valley". It could also be a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

word ''Isara'', meaning a "fast and impetuous flow (in case of flood)" to indicate to the travellers the dangers of a river during periods of intense rains or snow melt. The simple Latin variation is ''visara'' in the Gallo-Roman world which explains the logical phonetic evolution into

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

and Occitan.

Prehistoric sites and decorated caves in the Vézère valley

The Vézère valley was dubbed the "Valley of Mankind" from the end of the nineteenth century following the numerous discoveries of exceptional prehistoric sites, including the Abri de Crô-Magnon, a rock shelter, the cave of Font-de-Gaume, and the Les Combarelles, Combarelles caves in Les Eyzies. It also the location of the Lascaux cave in Montignac. The prehistoric and ornate caves of the Vézère Valley are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

References

External links

World Heritage profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vezere Rivers of France Rivers of Corrèze Rivers of Dordogne World Heritage Sites in France Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia