Auriac du Périgord
www.auriac-du-perigord.fr

Auriac du Périgord used to be known as Auriac-en-Périgord, then Auriac-de-Montignac. Perhaps it owes its name to a certain Aurius or Aurelius who was known to have commissioned a Gallo-Romanesque “villa” there.

Situated between Thenon and Montignac, the village is nestled in the Laurence river valley. In olden times the 1% average incline allowed many mills to function (the legend has it that there were 15 mills for 15km). Its geographic situation, north of the Périgord Noir halfway between Périgueux and Brive, makes it an ideal holiday destination. It is at once peaceful and within a reasonable distance to the most reputed tourist sites: the Lascaux caves, the Vézère river valley, the Hautefort castle and the villages of Les Eyzies, Rouffignac, and Sarlat.

The village itself lays claim to a patrimony related to its specific ancient history. The lordship of Auriac was created in 1487 following the sale, by the Sirs d’Albret (the House from which the king of France Henri IV would descend) of the rights and income of the land belonging to Antoinette of la Cropte, the wife of Pierre Arnal, whose oldest son, François Arnal, became Lord of de la Faye et d'Auriac. This lordship is included in the county of Périgord while remaining under the suzerainty of the House of Albret. A Catholic village in a Protestant environment, a French community amongst the English, Auriac cultivated its uniqueness, testified by the many defence towers to be found there.

The population of Auriac counted for more than 200 "fires" and 1000 “souls” during the reign of Henri IV, count of Périgord. In spite of starvation and plague periods, this number remained stable during the Ancien Regime and had grown to some 256 “fires” and 1200 inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution. Auriac was mainly a wine-producing village at the time, but the phylloxera which struck in 1875 drove the population out and the vineyards disappeared. From 1088 people in 1881, the population fell to 805 people in 1891. After World War I, more people left, leaving only 300 people in 1980. Today it has grown again to 400.

Its beautiful 12th century church welcomes the artists of the Périgord Noir Music Festival every year. In August a pilgrimage takes place at the Saint Rémy Chapel.

Not to be missed: the evening market on every thursday evening during the summer season, and the gift market between Christmas and New Year’s Day.