Église Saint-Pantaléon et château de Cramirat

Sergeac

On the cliffs overlooking the Vézère, a stone's throw from the painted caves of Lascaux, the little village of Sergeac hides another treasure, a medieval one this time. In 1275, the Order of the Temple established here one of its principal commanderies of the Sarladais, backed against a fortified castle of which only a round tower survives today, known as the tower of Cramirat. The church of Saint-Pantaléon, mentioned as early as 1053 under the name of Sainte-Marie but extensively remodelled in the Templars' time, still bears the scars of that troubled history: fortified and raised in the 14th century to serve as a refuge during the Hundred Years' War, it lost its original vault during the Wars of Religion, replaced by a plain flat ceiling. On the village square still stands a 16th-century hosanna cross that the inhabitants continue to call "the Templars' cross", a sign that the memory of the Order has never left this corner of the Périgord Noir. Passed to the Hospitallers in 1312 and then to the commandery of Condat, the seigneury of Sergeac saw its possessions sold as national property in 1793, for the sum, derisory even at the time, of 3,125 francs.

Getting there : Village in the Vézère valley, 5 km south of Montignac-Lascaux, in the Périgord Noir (Dordogne).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound