Meyrals

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Meyrals
Mairal
Meyrals (France)
Meyrals
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Dordogne
Arrondissement Sarlat-la-Canéda
Canton Vallée Dordogne
Community association Vallée de la Dordogne and Forêt Bessède
Coordinates 44 ° 54 '  N , 1 ° 4'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 54 '  N , 1 ° 4'  E
height 90-267 m
surface 18.16 km 2
Residents 641 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 35 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 24220
INSEE code 24268
Website http://www.meyrals.fr/

Meyrals - town center ( bourg )

Meyrals ( Occitan : Mairal ) is a place and a municipality ( commune ) in southwestern France with 641 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the old cultural landscape of the Périgord in the Dordogne department in the northeast of the Aquitaine region .

location

The place Meyrals lies in the Périgord Noir between the Vézère and the Dordogne at an altitude of about 160  m above sea level. d. M. and about 17 kilometers (driving distance) west of Sarlat-la-Canéda . Several hamlets and farmsteads also belong to the municipality, including the hamlet of Bernifal .

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2012
Residents 434 368 385 417 468 519 580

In the 19th century the population of the municipality was mostly around 800 to 900 people. The phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the loss of jobs due to the mechanization of agriculture led to a continuous population decline, the low point of which may have been reached in the 1970s and 1980s.

economy

Up to the present day agriculture plays the biggest role in the economic life of the municipality. However, the viticulture practiced here was completely given up after the phylloxera crisis . Tobacco and corn are also on the decline - instead, forests, fields and pastures, but also walnut , chestnut and fruit trees dominate the region. Also, foie gras and truffles are among the best regional cuisine. Some vacant houses are rented out as holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

Several finds suggest prehistoric human activities in the region. Although the construction of the parish church can be attributed to the 12th century, the place name is not mentioned in any medieval documents and appears for the first time in the 18th century.

Attractions

Manor in the center of the village
  • The streets of the village are still lined with many stone houses; some have roofs made of stone shingles ( lauzes ).
  • The single-nave Romanesque church of Saint-Eutrope with its imposing rectangular bell gable dates from the 12th century; it was at times a priory church of Saint-Cyprien. After the end of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the eastern parts were redesigned to defend themselves; the west portal dates from the 18th century. Inside the church there are two holy water basins in the shape of a shell, which can be understood as a reference to the Camino de Santiago . The church building was recognized as a monument historique in 2007 .
  • The existence of the renaissance castle Château de la Roque outside the village ( 44 ° 52 ′ 58 ″  N , 1 ° 3 ′ 50 ″  E ) is documented as early as the 12th century; However, today's building is mainly from the 16th / 17th centuries. Century. The towering, privately owned building complex can only be partially visited (inner courtyard and palace chapel ); it was already classified as a Monument historique in 1927 .
Field stone huts ( cabanes )
  • The grotto of Bernifal ( 44 ° 55 ′ 52 ″  N , 1 ° 4 ′ 3 ″  E ), already used by prehistoric people and equipped with drawings and paintings, was rediscovered in 1898 and entered in the list of Monuments historiques in 1904 .
  • The neighboring Grotte du Bison has been classified as a Monument historique since 2005 .
  • A short distance away is the Grotte du Grand Lac , which also contains traces of human activity and has been recognized as a Monument historique since 1981 .
  • In the area around Meyrals on the 'Boyer' parcel , some imposing stone huts made of dry stone masonry ( cabanes ) have been preserved.

Festivals

Every year in summer the original scarecrow festival ( Fête des Épouvantails ) takes place on a meadow near the village .

Personalities

literature

  • Jacqueline Jouanel: Histoire de Meyrals, des origines à la Révolution. Edition Récéad, 2007.
  • Jacqueline Jouanel: Histoire de Meyrals 1789–1989. Edition Récéad, 2014.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Eutrope, Meyrals in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ Château de la Roque, Meyrals in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ Grotte de Bernifal, Meyrals in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  4. ↑ Grotte du Bison, Meyrals in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  5. ↑ Grotte du Grand Lac, Meyrals in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)