Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne

Coordinates: 44°58′45″N 1°50′21″E / 44.9792°N 1.8392°E / 44.9792; 1.8392
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Beaulieu.

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Commune
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in 2010
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in 2010
Coat of arms of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Coat of arms
Location of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Map
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne is located in France
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
Coordinates: 44°58′45″N 1°50′21″E / 44.9792°N 1.8392°E / 44.9792; 1.8392
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentCorrèze
ArrondissementBrive-la-Gaillarde
CantonMidi Corrézien
IntercommunalityMidi Corrézien
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Dominique Cayre[1]
Area
1
16.89 km2 (6.52 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
1,300
 • Density77/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
19019 /19120
Elevation125–432 m (410–1,417 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne (French pronunciation: [boljø syʁ dɔʁdɔɲ], literally Beaulieu on Dordogne; Occitan: Belluec) is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, central France. Beaulieu is a medieval city, originally dominated by its great abbey of St Pierre, of which only the abbey church remains. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Brivezac was merged into Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.[3]

Geography

One of the arms of the Dordogne river crossing the village.

Toponymy

Beaulieu comes from the Latin "bellus locus", "lieu beau", a nice place to live. The inhabitants of Beaulieu are called by varies names: Beaulieusard, Beaulieurois, Bellilocien, Bellieurain, Bellilocois, Belliloquois, Belliloqueteux, Belliquière, Berlugan, Beloudonien.

Location

Beaulieu is in the south of the Corrèze department. It is located on the D940 road on the banks of the Dordogne river, south of the Limousin. Tulle is 37 km north. Brive-la-Gaillarde is 38 km away and Collonges-la-Rouge is 20 km to the northwest. Aurillac (Cantal) is 60 km to the east.

Hydrography and relief

The commune is limited on its entire eastern border by the Dordogne, and watered to the north by its tributary the Ménoire.

History

Middle ages

Chapelle des pénitents (left) in the village of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne across the river from Altillac.

In the midst of the

Way of St. James. The first monks came from the abbey of Solignac
, near Limoges.

Thanks to the pious donations of the Counts of Quercy, the Viscounts of

feudal lords and it was defended against their depredations by the bishops of Limoges. Annexed to the Cluny Abbey
around 1095, it was reformed and experienced a favourable period and the construction of the great abbey church was begun and it continued for nearly half a century. In the fourteenth century, a separate western steeple was erected: this also acted as the town's belfry.

The powerful abbey, under the protection of popular saints, was located around fertile lands, an indispensable condition for the village inhabitants to develop. From the end of the 12th century, a village was built around the

conventual
buildings protected by a wall, punctuated by towers and bordered by a ditch. From the monastic enclosure, districts developed outside the walls: the Faubourg de la Grave, towards the Dordogne, where the former hospital was located; the main district at the site of the old village of Vellinus; the Barri du Trou in which the deceased were buried and the Mirabel district near the ancient orchards of the abbey. Beaulieu became an important commercial place from which emerged a true bourgeois community that aroused the desires of the Lords of Castelnau and Turenne.

From 1213, saw the end of the Cluny stranglehold, with the abbey losing power little by little. Beaulieu became the seat of the conflicts for power between the Lord Abbot, the middle-class and the Viscount of Turenne. With the beginning of the fifteenth century, the abbey gradually crumbled.

Modern era

18th century house in front of the Abbey Church of St Pierre, decorated with various sculpted elements from disappeared 15th and 16th century buildings.

The abbey declined during the Hundred Years' War, which devastated the region. The French Wars of Religion completed the process. The abbey suffered the attacks by the Protestants during that war. As the sixteenth century approached, the ideas of the reform had spread under the influence of the merchants and gabariers (barge-men) of the Dordogne. Twice (1569–1574), the Protestants troops of the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny plundered the city and the abbey. The abbey church was then transformed into a Protestant temple. Given to the Catholic cult, in 1622, thanks to the Catholic League, the abbey was rebuilt in the seventeenth century by the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur. They reinstate the monastic discipline and it was not until 1663 that the abbey began to function again. The city, again prosperous, erected its opulent mansions. The former Leaguer's created, with the help of the bishops, many brotherhoods.

French Revolution and Empire

The abbey still sheltered six monks when the

Maurist constructions.[4] The abbey was spared and became a parish church.[4] Part of the vault collapsed in 1808 and in 1889, the square in front of the abbey church was cleared and created.[4]

Contemporary period

On 1 January 2019 the municipality extended its perimeter to that of Brivezac.

Population and society

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19621,511—    
19681,592+5.4%
19751,560−2.0%
19821,508−3.3%
19901,265−16.1%
19991,278+1.0%
20081,296+1.4%
20151,174−9.4%

Sport

Beaulieu's rugby club was created in 1908: Union Sportive Beaulieu (U.S.B.). A regular champion of the Limousin, the club participated in several stages of the French championship reaching the semifinals in 1921. During the 2011-2012 season, the club was shown by winning the title of Champion of France in 2nd Series by beating in the final, US Josbaig Saint Goin (15 to 11), crowning a great season and allowing the club to climb in 1st Series for the season 2012-2013.

Economy

The Beaulieu region produces 400 tonnes of strawberries or nearly 1% of French production. In particular, it feeds the production of jams by the Andros group in its factories in Biars-Bretenoux. A strawberry festival is held on the second Sunday in May, where a strawberry pie is made of 8 metres diameter and 900 kg of strawberries.

8 m diameter strawberry pie at the annual strawberry festival.

Local culture and heritage

Civil buildings

Château d'Estresse.

Château d'Estresse

The Chateau was built on a terrace supported by a medieval retaining wall on the Dordogne river, so as to defend Beaulieu and the upper valley from invasions from the river (King Odo of France stopped the Normans in 889). The Chateau consists of buildings from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, and one can still see a bretèche protruding over the entrance gate. The Chateau approached the twentieth century in the state of ruin, but it was restored. It is included in the inventory of historical monuments.

Religious buildings

Abbey Church of St Pierre.

Abbey Church of St Pierre

Founded in the 9th century by Rodolphe of the family of the Counts of Turenne, Lords of Beaulieu, the abbey was attached to

Cluny in the 11th century. Under the impetus of the Gregorian reforms
, the pilgrimages flourished, necessitating the construction of new, better-adapted churches.

In 1150, the

Latin Cross, having a nave with aisles and an ambulatory allowing pilgrims, to pray to the saints of their choice in the apsidal chapel without disturbing high altar. The architect Anatole de Baudot
carried out restoration work.

The church has a nave of four spans. The choir, the southern arm of the transept and much of the nave date back to the original Romanesque phase of the building. The belfry and the central tower are of later, Gothic construction. The total length of the building is 71 metres, and the width at the transept is 38 metres. The nave rises to 17 metres, while the central tower exceeds it by 6 metres.

The most notable feature of the church is the elaborately sculpted south portal, particularly the

General Resurrection. A 2.1 metre Christ, his arms spread in the form of a cross, is flanked by the 12 Apostles
, while angels above him carry the crown and nails. Meanwhile, other angels sound the trumpet to summon up the dead.

Another notable feature is a fine

reliquaries
, all made of wood and covered in silver or gold leaf.

Cultural heritage

In its 2017 charts, le Conseil national des villes et villages fleuris de France (National Council of the Flower Towns and Villages of France) awarded a flower to the commune in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris (Contest of the Flowers towns and villages).

Panoramic view of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.

Personalities

Notable personalities linked to the commune include:

Gallery

  • The belfry of the abbey church in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.
    The belfry of the abbey church in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.
  • Southern portal of the abbey church.
    Southern portal of the abbey church.
  • Maison Clare entrance.
    Maison Clare entrance.
  • Sévigné institution building window detail.
    Sévigné institution building window detail.
  • Chapelle des pénitents on the bank of the Dordogne river.
    Chapelle des pénitents on the bank of the Dordogne river.
  • 15th century house, Place de la Bridolle.
    15th century house, Place de la Bridolle.
  • Interior view of the Ste Catherine gate.
    Interior view of the Ste Catherine gate.
  • Abadiol mill.
    Abadiol mill.
  • Nave of the St Pierre abbey church.
    Nave of the St Pierre abbey church.
  • Assumption of the Virgin Mary retable in the St Pierre abbey church.
    Assumption of the Virgin Mary retable
    in the St Pierre abbey church.
  • The return and triumph of Christ, depicted on the southern portal tympanum of the St Pierre abbey church.
    The return and triumph of Christ, depicted on the southern portal tympanum of the St Pierre abbey church.
  • Maison Calary tower.
    Maison Calary tower.
  • View of a house on Place de la Bridolle.
    View of a house on Place de la Bridolle.
  • Dordogne riverbank.
    Dordogne riverbank.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Arrêté préfectoral 28 June 2018 (in French)
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-2-7377-0403-1
    .

External links

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