Salers
| Salers | ||
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| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Cantal | |
| Arrondissement | Mauriac | |
| Canton | Mauriac | |
| Community association | Pays de Salers | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 8 ′ N , 2 ° 30 ′ E | |
| height | 830-1,207 m | |
| surface | 4.85 km 2 | |
| Residents | 329 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 68 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 15140 | |
| INSEE code | 15219 | |
| Website | www.salers.fr | |
 Porte du Beffroi |
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Salers is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in France . The place is a completely preserved small town from the Renaissance period, with private and public buildings, city walls, defense towers and a church. He was accepted into the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages in France . Despite its low population of 329 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), the place is a historical, cultural and agricultural center in the sparsely populated mountain region of the Monts du Cantal .
Geographical location
Salers is located on the edge of a high plateau at an altitude of 950 meters, on a western foothill of the Monts du Cantal , in a rough pasture landscape in the Xaintrie .
To the south to east there is a view of the valley of the river Maronne . Ten kilometers as the crow flies in an easterly direction you can see the chain of peaks of the 1592 meter high Puy Violent (German: "mighty mountain"). Salers is the last major settlement west of the highest pass of the Cantal, the 1588 meter high Pas de Peyrol . This can be reached 30 km away on the D680 road.
Aurillac in the south can be reached via 40 km of country roads. The town of Mauriac in the northwest is 19 kilometers by road.
history
In the early Middle Ages , Salers was the castle of the Barons de Salers . Citizens and farmers settled on the hill opposite the castle. Despite resistance from the Barons of Salers, Charles de Bourbon , Duke of Auvergne, authorized the citizens of Salers to build a fortification in 1428 .
The houses that have survived to this day, the city walls, the two city towers and the church were built in the following two centuries.
In 1665, after a blood feud, Baron François de Salers was sentenced to death by the High Court of the Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand . The castle was razed; the place and the surrounding land went into the possession of the royal family de Scorailles . This feudal rule was finally abolished in the French Revolution .
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Salers was a regional market for agricultural products, especially the region's cheese.
In the course of the reorganization of the cantons in 2015, the canton of Salers , whose main town was the municipality, was dissolved and Salers was assigned to the canton of Mauriac .
| Population development Salers | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2016 |
| Residents | 533 | 521 | 480 | 451 | 439 | 401 | 368 | 329 |
Culture and sights
Town houses and public buildings
Most of the buildings are made of the region's black volcanic rock. Noteworthy are among others:
- Grande Place with its picturesque scenery of old houses.
- Ancien Baillage (former bailiwick ) with its round bay windows and large interiors.
- Maison Escure , built in 1657 ( Monument historique )
- Maison Bertrandy , built around 1700 (Monument historique)
- Maison de Bargues with a 15th-century balcony adorned with graceful sculptures.
- The so-called Maison des Templiers ( Templar House ) from the 15th century was actually run by the Order of St. John and today contains the Salers collection of city history.
Alley scene
Big place with old bailiwick
Templar House
Porte du Beffroi city gate
City towers
Porte du Beffroi and Porte de la Martille .
Saint-Mathieu church
The church from the late 15th century has taken over a porch from the previous Romanesque building. The single-nave main house merges into six side chapels. The bell tower was rebuilt in the 19th century after a lightning strike. Inside the church there are tapestries from the 17th century, panel paintings by Jusepe de Ribera and a polychrome stone entombment from 1495; on the west portal you can see remains of Romanesque sculptures.
Notre-Dame-de-Lorette chapel
The chapel is located at the eastern exit towards the mountains.
tourism
Tourism as an economic factor
Salers has around 400,000 visitors a year. Today tourism is the determining economic factor that keeps the place alive. The restaurants and shops selling souvenirs and culinary specialties of the region all over the place indicate this.
Outside the season, locked window and door shutters indicate that many of the old houses are now being used as weekend and holiday homes for city dwellers.
free time activities
In addition to cultural and culinary tourism, depending on the season, mountain hikes and cross-country skiing are the main options for tourist leisure activities. For cyclists who are in good shape, it may be appealing to follow in the footsteps of the Tour de France , which often moves along the D680 over the Pas de Peyrol .
Culinary
In the restaurants and grocery stores on site you can enjoy or buy the typical specialties of the region:
- The diverse types of cheese, for example the Cantal cheese named after the region , the Salers cheese , Saint-Nectaire , Bleu d'Auvergne or a Reblochon .
- The ham and the various sausages from Auvergne.
- Hearty main dishes, such as the local sausage served warm or tripe cooked in the form of small bags ( Tripoux ).
- An aligot is served as a side dish - a mashed potatoes with garlic and fresh Tome cheese, which is the preliminary stage of Cantal cheese.
- Truffade , potatoes baked with Tome cheese
- Starters such as the pate made of pork's head, bread and plums, served warm.
Community partnerships
The community maintains partnerships with Bourg in the French Gironde department and with Hollókő in northern Hungary.
Personalities
The large square in the center of the village is also called Place Tyssandier-d'Escous . A monument on this square commemorates Ernest Tyssandier d'Escous (1813–1889), who raised Salers cattle from the local breed of cattle .
- Robert Chancel (1924–2108), racing car driver
literature
- Auvergne. Perigord, Berry, Limousin (= The Green Travel Guide ). Michelin Reiseverlag, Karlsruhe 2003, ISBN 2-06-000107-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Salers on Les plus Beaux Villages de France (French)
- ↑ EHESS ( École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales )
- ↑ La Maison des Templiers de Salers . templum-aeternum.net
- ↑ Website of the municipality - Jumelage Bourg / Holloko ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
