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| Chateau de Beynac-et-Cazac |
Dordogne is a region, which is located in south-west part of France, on the east from Bordeaux. Main cities of these region are Bergerac and Perigueux. Although they are not a huge metropolises and the land has no access to a sea or an ocean it is definitely worth visiting it.
There you can find magnificent landscapes with well saved castles. Moreover the region is famous from prehistoric signs of human activities. The oldest known Paleolithic paintings is in complex of caves in Lascaux - Montignac, which was our main goal there.
We started our trip in Terrasson-Lavilledieu. We stop immediately after we saw this nice view:
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| Terrasson-Lavilledieu |
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| Terrasson-Lavilledieu |
After several photos we moved on the road to the Lascaux cave. The cave includes paintings which are dated for c.a. 20 thousand years ago. Unfortunately taking photos inside the cave is forbidden. You can see them in the internet or just go there.
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| Lascaux II - entrance |
Sightseeing of the cave is possible only with a guide offered in several languages including: English, French and Spanish. The tickets are available online or in special office in Montignac (the price is around 10 euro per person). It is good to know that nowadays for tourists is open only copy of the original cave - Lascaux II. Original cave was closed after 20 years from its discovery. Hence, the high temperature and humidity introduced by many people going through the cave cased destruction of paintings. To save them from extinction the copy of the cave was created and original cave is no longer available for anyone except archaeologists who can come inside once per several years.
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| Lascaux II |
The copy of the cave was built exactly in the shape of the original one and all paintings inside were done sing the same techniques as before. The mismatch between the caves is less than 1cm. The reconstructed paintings cover 85 % of all paintings from the cave. By the end of 2016 is planned opening of the new copy of the cave which will cover entire paintings.
Next point of our journey were so called troglodyte cities, located in cliffs between villages: Thonac and Tursac.
The history of La Roque Saint Christophe started similar to the Lascaux. The caves in the cliffs were used by prehistoric people as the shelter against wild animals. Later the location of the cliff and its closeness to the river were perfect for establishment of the medieval towns. Unfortunately it was destroyed in Renaissance, when the rock wasn't a good shelter any more (because of guns etc.).
Preserved building with the museum is available just a few kilometers on the South - Maison Forte de Reignac. Hence it is much smaller but it gives really nice feel about medieval cities in this region. In the Dordogne valley are much more caves and cliffs to explore.
Following the Dordogne river from Les Eyzies by Sarlat to Bergeracyou can find many castles easily visible from the road. Entrance to the castles is paid around 10 euro per person, which is quite expensive to visit more than one attraction during such a short stay there. Chateau de Castelnaud (XI century) offers inter alia medieval shows and catapults. On the other side of the river Dordogne you can magnificent town wirh the castle Beynac-et-Cazac (XIII century) from which you can see the whole valley.
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| Chateau de Beyssac |
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| Chateau de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle |
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| Chateau de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle |
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| View from the Chateau de Beynac-et-Cazac |
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| Chateau de Beynac-et-Cazac |
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| Postcard from Dordogne |
Beside sightseeing the region is famous from food. Passing by following attractions in each village you can find goose farms. It is a main region of production Foie Gras. The prices of this regional delicacy are between 80 - 90 euro per kilogram.
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| Fois Gras |
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