Sarlat-la-Caneda

Said to have been inhabited since Gallo-Roman times, Sarlat became a prosperous city at the end of the VIII century under the reign of Pepin le Bref and Charlemagne when the benedictines established a monastery there.

​

It continued to be a prosperous town throughout the XVI, XVII and XVIII but, after that, too far removed from the main stream, it fell into lethargy like Sleeping Beauty, for nearly 150 years, to wake up again only some thirty years ago when road transport supplanted river and railroad as means of communication.

​

The old facades are now as they were, under their magnificent stone roofs. and the old quarters have been rescued from their lethargy by a lively and lived-in town. The architectural treasures are here for your admiration just as the centuries have handed them down to us.