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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.