Place de la Liberté
Cafés and golden stone.
Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0
Sarlat-la-Canéda is a medieval town in the Périgord Noir area of the Dordogne department in southwest France, about 7 km north of the Dordogne river, 51 km southeast of Périgueux and 142 km east of Bordeaux in a straight line. The town grew up around a large abbey of Carolingian origin. Because modern history largely passed it by, it remains one of the towns most representative of 14th-century France. Its historic centre has 77 protected monuments and was placed on France's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage in 2002. It was restored in the 1960s. Narrow cobbled lanes wind through the old town between houses and mansions of golden limestone, topped by steep stone-slab roofs and small pointed turrets, opening onto wide squares lined with cafés. The centre is largely car-free. Visitors wander the lanes and squares, sit in the Place de la Liberté and visit the town's well-known market. The town is lovely at night when the stone is lit, and it makes a good base for the Dordogne valley with its castles and villages.
Cafés and golden stone.
Stone roofs.
Local produce.
Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
In the evening when the stone is lit.
The castles and villages of the Dordogne.