La Dordogne de villages en barrages

Au début du Moyen Age, Robert, fondateur de l'abbaye de la Chaise-Dieu fit édifier sur la rive droite de la Dordogne un prieuré. Particulièrement florissant du 11e au 13e siècle, l'établissement comptait 16 moines. Cependant, il fut saccagé vers 1597 par les Huguenots. Aujourd'hui, il ne reste du prieuré qu'une partie du mur d'enceinte, la grande salle voûtée, les soubassements du donjon et la chapelle des Manants. Cette dernière fut construite à l'extérieur de l'enceinte pour la population environnante. Elle fut église paroissiale, succédant ainsi à l'église Saint Martin située plus haut sur le plateau. Chaque été, la chapelle accueille des expositions et des concerts.

On the D82, 20km north of Bort-les-Orgues, in the commune of Monestier-Port-Dieu. Viewpoint for the Bort-les-Orgues reservoir.

Covering an area of 1,000m², this museum houses approximately 20 machines once used in the tanning industry, such as fullering tools, scrapers and shaving knives, as well as machines used for drying/pressing, slitting, slating and staking leather. A video provides information on the tanning process and old photos depict the work of the tanner, transforming animal hides into the final leather product. The museum runs educational workshops for children. New: Come and discover, at the Tannery Museum, the school's small Museum. It is a reconstruction of a classroom, with objects, furniture and documents from the former school of Bort les Orgues.

On the D127, 12km west of Bort-les-Orgues. A promontory at the confluence of the Dordogne and Diège rivers, where the village and church of Saint-Nazaire once stood. From the end of the promontory there is a magnificent view of the Dordogne (Marèges reservoir) and Diège gorges.

Très belle église romane du 12ème s., chapelles du 18ème s. Vierges en pierre polychrome 15ème-17ème-18ème s.

Access by D.20 then D.183 between Neuvic and Liginiac. The "Puy de Manzagol" dominates the lake of Triouzoune in front of Neuvic. Of the viewpoint table, the sight dives on the bridge of Pellachal, to get lost farther on the horizon of Monédières.

On the D168, 12km southeast of Neuvic. Situated on the Les Ajustants tourist route, this belvedere offers a splendid view of the confluence of the Dordogne and Sumène rivers.

In the heart of a classified natural site, a superb waterfall of about thirty meters on the brook of Pont-Aubert, accessible on foot from the parking lot shortly after the hamlet of Breuil by a yellow marked path (1h A/R). Access by the D16 between Soursac and Mauriac upstream of the Barrage de l'Aigle. Circuit available at the Town Hall of Soursac, at the Tourist Information Offices of Haute Corrèze in Neuvic (all year) a nd Soursac (in July and August).

Once an important site for the construction of "gabares" and the departure point for the "gabariers" who transported loads of wood down the Dordogne to the Bordeaux region. Gabare rides on the Dordogne.

Belvedere offering a magnificent view of the valley of the Luzège. Caution: the belvedere is not secure. For hikers, the route "Around the Dark" to go through the Belvedere.

Un point de vue qui surplombe le ruisseau de la Sombre à sa confluence avec et la retenue du Chastang pour offrir un panorama exceptionnel sur les Gorges de la Dordogne. Falaises et rochers environnants offrent le gite pour deux oiseaux habitués de ces milieux rupestres, le Faucon pèlerin (Falco peregrinus) et le Grand corbeau (Corvus corvax). Pour les amateurs de randonnée, le sentier "Les Gorges de la Dordogne", au départ de la piste forestière de la Chapeloune, permet de s'y arrêter.

Situated on the southwest side of the Dordogne gorges below the village of Nougein, the Jardin de Bardot covers an area of approximately 1200 m2. Although built on a fairly steep slope, the garden is divided into horizontal terraces supported by dry-stone walls, which allow plants to be grown in the exceptional micro-climate enjoyed by the area. Most of the plants grown here are shrubs (eg holly, medlar, lilac, wild maple and vines).

Wiewpoint on the gorges of the Dordogne and the Xaintrie. Picnic area. Access by D18, direction Nougein.

Access from the village of Murat from the D18 between Saint-Martin la Méanne and Gros Chastang. Panaroma over the Dordogne gorges and the Chastang dam and reservoir.

Ce nouveau belvédère aménagé au creux d’une forêt, dans les gorges de la Dordogne, offre une vue imprenable sur le barrage du Chastang mis en service en 1951.

Discover the Chastang hydroelectric power station, one of the most powerful in the Dordogne valley. This industrial jewel, commissioned in 1951, is 79 m high and 300 m long at the crest and required 350,000 m3 of concrete to build. With its 31 km long reservoir (which contains the equivalent of 75,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools) and its three 50-tonne "Francis" type turbines, the dam has an annual production equivalent to the residential consumption of 186,000 inhabitants. - Guided tour of the plant (reservation required with regulated access conditions): discovery of how hydroelectricity works at the heart of this exceptional structure. - Free visit to the Odysselec fun and educational area (45 min), which will help you understand how a dam works and the various issues related to hydroelectricity. Accessible to PRM .

Le Sablier was inaugurated in 1958 and is the smallest dam along the river Dordogne. It is also an original construction, quite different from the usual spectacular dams. Water flows smoothly through the dam, and is filtered softly as though the dam was an hour glass : hence the dam’s name (“Sablier” means hourglass). It is 35 metres tall and holds back 9 kms of water.

Situated on the banks of the Dordogne, Argentat sur Dordogne was for centuries a major trading port. Traditional flat-bottomed gabare boats once left from Quai Lestourgie loaded with local products such as wood, leather and oil. Today the riverside quays, still paved with traditional stone, are lined with old houses bearing lauze-stone covered towers and pepperpot roofs.

Argentat-sur-Dordogne a été durant des siècles un grand port de commerce. Du quai Lestourgie partaient les gabares chargées de bois, de cuir et d'huile. Vous prendrez beaucoup de plaisir à flâner le long des quais pavés à l'ancienne pour admirer les maisons de pêcheurs chapeautées de lauze, les façades nobles et leurs tourelles.