Périgueux

Périgueux
Prefecture and commune

Top:Panorama view of Saint-Front Cathedral in Trélissac Hills, Middle left:Statue of Thomas-Robert Bugeaud in Bugeaud Square, Middle right:Barbadeau Castle (Le château de Barbadeau), Bottom left:Isle River and Saint Georges Bridge (Pont Saint Georges), Bottom right:The tower of Vésone (La tour de Vésone)

Coat of arms
Périgueux

Coordinates: 45°11′34″N 0°43′18″E / 45.1929°N 0.7217°E / 45.1929; 0.7217Coordinates: 45°11′34″N 0°43′18″E / 45.1929°N 0.7217°E / 45.1929; 0.7217
Country France
Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Dordogne
Arrondissement Périgueux
Canton Périgueux-1 and 2
Intercommunality Le Grand Périgueux
Government
 • Mayor (2014–) Antoine Audi (UMP)
Area1 9.82 km2 (3.79 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 29,080
 • Density 3,000/km2 (7,700/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 24322 /24000
Elevation 75–189 m (246–620 ft)
(avg. 101 m or 331 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Périgueux (French pronunciation: [peʁiɡø]; Occitan: Peireguers [pejɾeˈɣɥes, pejɾeˈɡœː] or Periguers [peɾiˈɣɥes, peɾiˈɡœː]) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.

Périgueux is the prefecture of the départment. It is also the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese.

History

The name Périgueux comes from Petrocorii, a Latinization of Celtic words meaning "the four tribes" – the Gallic people that held the area before the Roman conquest. Périgueux was their capital city. In 200 BC, the Petrocorii came from the north and settled at Périgueux and established an encampment at La Boissière. After the Roman invasion, they left this post and established themselves on the plain of L'Isle, and the town of Vesunna was created. This Roman city was eventually embellished with amenities such as temples, baths, amphitheatres, and a forum. At the end of the third century AD, the Roman city was surrounded by ramparts, and the town took the name of Civitas Petrocoriorum.

In the 10th century, Le Puy-Saint-Front was constructed around an abbey next to the old Gallo-Roman city. It was organised into a municipality around 1182.

During the year 1940, many Jews from Alsace and Alsatians were evacuated to Périgueux.

Simone Mareuil (a lead actress from the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou) committed self-immolation on 24 October 1954 by dousing herself in gasoline and burning herself to death in a public square in Périgueux.

Geography

The Isle flows through Périgueux.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
17939,898—    
18005,733−42.1%
18066,306+10.0%
18218,452+34.0%
18318,956+6.0%
183611,576+29.3%
184112,187+5.3%
184611,455−6.0%
185113,547+18.3%
185616,291+20.3%
186119,140+17.5%
186619,633+2.6%
187219,956+1.6%
187624,169+21.1%
188125,969+7.4%
188629,611+14.0%
189131,439+6.2%
189631,313−0.4%
190131,976+2.1%
190631,361−1.9%
191133,548+7.0%
192133,144−1.2%
192633,389+0.7%
193133,988+1.8%
193637,615+10.7%
194640,865+8.6%
195440,785−0.2%
196238,529−5.5%
196837,450−2.8%
197535,120−6.2%
198232,916−6.3%
199030,280−8.0%
199930,152−0.4%
200829,080−3.6%

Sights

Sights include: the remains of a Roman amphitheatre (known locally as the arènes romaines) the centre of which has been turned into a green park with a water fountain; the remains of a temple of the Gallic goddess "Vesunna"; and a luxurious Roman villa, called the "Domus of Vesunna", built around a garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded peristyle now housed in the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum.

Périgueux Theater Palace
Saint-Étienne Church

Cathedral

Cathedral of St Front
The bell tower of St Front's cathedral
St Front's cathedral, inside

The cathedral of St Front was built after 1120 and restored in the 19th century.

The history of the church of St Front of Périgueux has given rise to numerous discussions between archaeologists. Félix de Verneihl claims that St Front's was a copy of St Mark's Basilica in Venice; Quicherat, that it was copied from the church of the Holy Apostles of Constantinople. M. Brutails is of the opinion that even if the style of St Front's reveals an imitation of Oriental art, the construction differs altogether from Byzantine methods. The dates 984–1047, often given for the erection of St Front's, he considers too early; he thinks that the present church of St Front was built about 1120–1173, in imitation of a foreign monument by a native local school of architecture which erected the other domed buildings in the south-west of France.

The local architect, Paul Abadie (1812–1884), was responsible for radical changes to St Front's which are no longer appreciated by architects or local residents who prefer the purer Romanesque church of Saint-Étienne de la Cité, the former Cathedral of Périgueux.

The cathedral is part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

Transport

Périgueux railway station offers connections to Limoges, Bordeaux, Brive-la-Gaillarde, and other regional destinations.

Personalities

Périgueux was the birthplace of:

International relations

Périgueux is twinned with:[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Commission for Decentralised cooperation". Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) (in French). Retrieved 2013-12-26.
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