Reilhac (Lot)

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Reilhac
Relhac
Reilhac (France)
Reilhac
region Occitania
Department Lot
Arrondissement Figeac
Canton Gramat
Community association Grand Figeac
Coordinates 44 ° 42 '  N , 1 ° 43'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 42 '  N , 1 ° 43'  E
height 312-396 m
surface 12.98 km 2
Residents 172 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 13 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 46500
INSEE code 46235

Church Saint-Hilaire

Reilhac ( Occitan : Relhac ) is a place and a municipality in the south of France with 172 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the old cultural landscape of the Quercy in the Lot department in the north of the Occitania region .

location

The place Reilhac is at an altitude of about 345 meters above sea level. d. M. in the middle of the Regional Nature Park Causses du Quercy . The nearest major cities are Cahors (55 kilometers southwest), Gourdon (36 kilometers west) and Figeac (32 kilometers southeast).

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2012
Residents 102 88 99 115 143 163 182

In the 19th century, Reilhac always had between 300 and 400 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture , the population of the municipality in the 20th century fell to the lows in the 1950s to 1980s.

economy

For centuries, the population lived as a self-sufficiency from agriculture, which - in addition to field and pasture farming - also included the cultivation of wine to a small extent. An improved infrastructure made the development of local and regional tourism possible in the second half of the 20th century, which was further promoted by the creation of a nature park in 1998. There are several holiday homes ( gîtes ) in and around the village .

history

The first settlements in the Quercy probably emerged in Celtic times, but - just like from antiquity and from the Visigothic times - only a few traces have survived. A permanent settlement in Reilhac can therefore only be proven since the Middle Ages. In 1146 the church and place belonged to the Benedictine abbey of Figeac.

Attractions

Interior of the church
  • The parish church of Saint-Hilaire , consecrated to St. Hilary of Poitiers , is a Romanesque building from the 12th century. A stone floor was placed above the apse and leaning against the crossing tower before or after the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) , which was added in the event of attacks could serve as a retreat for the village population. While the apse and the choir bay were built from precisely hewn stones, which enabled a straight masonry connection, all other outer walls are made of roughly hewn rubble stones. Due to the peculiar structure of the west facade with an integrated bell gable , the entire church building - with the exception of the apse - could have been destroyed and rebuilt in the 16th century. The two-bay nave , which is only about ten meters long , was given a simple rib vault in the 15th century ; the choir bay is barrel vaulted and the semicircle of the apse shows the usual dome vault . The two side chapels north and south of the crossing area were added in the 19th century. The church has been recognized as a monument historique since 1925 .
  • The Maison du Consul is a noble building from the 15th century; it shows a cross- frame window and a late Gothic window frame with a flat keel arch .
Surroundings
  • Two lakes ( Lac de Reilhac and Lac Redon ) are typical karst lakes , the water of which partly disappears in underground rivers and caverns and reappears in other places. Both lakes still serve as cattle troughs ( abreuvoirs ) today .
  • The Grotte de Bugadous has contained a copy of the famous Pech-Merle horse since 1990 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Hilaire, Reilhac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)