Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges stands on a fault where red sandstone outcrops in an otherwise limestone country, and everything is built of it: houses, church, towers, walls, so the whole village is a deep rust red under grey lauze roofs. It grew as a dependency of Turenne, and officials of that viscounty built the turreted manors that give it its skyline. In 1982 the mayor of Collonges, Charles Ceyrac, founded the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France after seeing a magazine feature on notable villages; it now lists well over a hundred and fifty and this one was the first.

History

The monks of Charroux Abbey founded a priory here in the 8th century, around whose fortified walls peasants, craftsmen and traders settled, and the village lay on the pilgrim road from Vézelay to Santiago de Compostela via Rocamadour. In 1308 the Viscount of Turenne granted it high, middle and low justice, which bred families of prosecutors, lawyers and notaries, and the village spread beyond its walls into suburbs. When the viscounty was sold in 1738 to pay debts, Collonges passed under the French king; the Revolution destroyed the priory buildings, and after a short revival in the early 19th century the population fell and the village was used as a stone quarry. Early in the 20th century villagers founded the association Les Amis de Collonges, and in 1942 the whole village was listed as a historic monument (Wikipedia, Collonges-la-Rouge).

What's there

• The red stone - every building in deep rust sandstone under grey roofs.
• The turreted manors - houses of Turenne officials with towers.
• The church tympanum - a white limestone carving contrasting with the red.
• The founding village - where the plus beaux villages association began.

When to go

April to October; the red is strongest in low evening sun and after rain. Summer weekends are crowded. Winter has little open.

Practical notes

It is small and given almost entirely to craft shops and restaurants in season. Cars are excluded and parking is outside, charged. Coach groups fill it in the middle of the day.

Nearby

Turenne lies west; Brive is northwest.

Key facts