Ayat

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Ajat
Ajac d'Auba Ròcha
Ajat coat of arms
Ajat (France)
Ayat
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Dordogne
Arrondissement Sarlat-la-Canéda
Canton Haut-Périgord Noir
Community association Terrassonnais en Périgord Noir Thenon Hautefort
Coordinates 45 ° 9 '  N , 1 ° 1'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 9 '  N , 1 ° 1'  E
height 148-284 m
surface 21.95 km 2
Residents 317 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 14 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 24100
INSEE code 24004
Website Ayat

Ajat - local view

Ayat ( Occitan Ajac d'Auba Rocha ) is a place and several hamlets (hamlets) existing and farmsteads community with 317 inhabitants (as of January 1 2017) in the southern French department of Dordogne in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

Ajat is located almost 30 kilometers (driving distance) east of Périgueux and a good 47 kilometers west of Brive-la-Gaillarde in the historic province of Périgord at an altitude of about 195 m above sea level. d. The climate is temperate and is influenced equally by the Atlantic Ocean and the mountains of the Massif Central .

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2016
Residents 766 959 688 368 281 327

The continuous decline in population since the second half of the 19th century is mainly due to the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the increasing mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

The place and its surroundings were dominated by agriculture for centuries; Most of the people lived on the produce of their fields and gardens as self-sufficient ; cattle breeding and viticulture were also operated (see local coat of arms). Craftsmen, small traders and service providers of all kinds have settled in the village. Since the 1960s tourism has played a not insignificant role in the economic life of the municipality in the form of renting out holiday homes ( gîtes ) .

history

In the 11th century there was a castle (château) ; the place itself is first mentioned in 1158 under the old name Apsacum ; it was on a branch line of the Camino de Santiago . In the 13th century, the place briefly belonged to the Knights Templar and was of great regional importance. During the French Revolution (1793) the formerly independent town of Bauzens and other hamlets in the area merged with the municipality of Ajat.

Attractions

Église Saint-Martin d'Ajat
  • The town's privately owned castle (château) has two residential wings ( corps de logis ) and its origins can be traced back to the time before the arrival of the Templars. The former castle chapel now forms the parish church of the village. The building was in 16./17. It has changed profoundly in the 19th century and has been recognized as a monument historique since 1925 .
  • The now two-, formerly three-bay nave of the former St-Martin castle church was supposed to be covered by two domes, which however were not completed or collapsed. The outside polygonal sheathed, but inside semicircular apse , above which a four-part bell gable rises, probably later added , has three windows that are optically emphasized by a blind arch resting on columns . At the time of the Templars, the apse was raised by a fortified floor. On the south side of the church, several Merovingian sarcophagi were uncovered during excavation work . The church building was recognized as a monument historique in 1925 .
Église Saint-Barthélemy de Beauzens
  • The Notre-Dame-de-Pitié chapel was built in 1622, but rebuilt in the 19th century.
Surroundings
  • The parish church of the hamlet of Bauzens dates from the 12th century. Its facade is divided in two and shows a three-part triumphal arch scheme in the upper part , as is common in many Romanesque churches in the Charente . The vaulting of the nave, which is probably covered by domes, was never completed or collapsed at some point. Immediately in front of the flat apse there is still a domed yoke. The church was already classified as a monument historique in 1909 .
  • On the outskirts of Bauzens there is an old pigeon house (pigeonnier) .

literature

  • Martial Faucon: Ajat en Perigord - petite commune chargée d'histoire. Self-published in 2002.

Web links

Commons : Ajat  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ajat - map with altitude information
  2. ↑ Périgueux / Ajat - climate tables
  3. ↑ Ajat - Château in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  4. ^ Ajat - Église Saint-Martin in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  5. ↑ Ajat - Église de Bauzens in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)