Vayrac

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Vayrac
Vairac
Vayrac Coat of Arms
Vayrac (France)
Vayrac
region Occitania
Department Lot
Arrondissement Gourdon
Canton Martel
Community association Causses et Vallée de la Dordogne
Coordinates 44 ° 57 ′  N , 1 ° 42 ′  E Coordinates: 44 ° 57 ′  N , 1 ° 42 ′  E
height 110-312 m
surface 16.33 km 2
Residents 1,292 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 79 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 46110
INSEE code 46330
Website http://www.vayrac.fr/

The Dordogne near the hamlet of Mézels near Vayrac

Vayrac ( Occitan : Vairac ) is a southern French municipality with 1292 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Lot department in the Occitania region .

location

Vayrac is located in the north of the Quercy and the Lot department on the north bank of the Dordogne and consists of several hamlets and farmhouses. The medieval pilgrimage site of Rocamadour is about 26 kilometers (driving distance) in a south-westerly direction. The neighboring town of Martel, which is worth seeing, is about eleven kilometers to the west.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
Residents 1,157 1,183 1,149 1,190 1.166 1,185 1,309

In the 19th century Vayrac had at times over 2,000 inhabitants; at the beginning of the 20th century it was just over 1,600. In the past, the mechanization of agriculture and the resulting loss of jobs ensured a continuous population decline until the low point in the 1950s.

economy

Vayrac and its surroundings were and still are to a large extent agricultural, with animal husbandry (cattle, pigs, poultry) also playing an important role. In autumn, truffles , nuts, chestnuts and fruit (apples, figs, etc.) are traditionally on people's menu. Since the 1960s, tourism has also contributed to the town's income in the form of renting holiday homes and apartments ( gîtes ).

history

The last episode of the Gallic War led by Julius Caesar took place in the area of ​​Vayrac and the neighboring municipality of Saint-Denis-lès-Martel , one year after the Battle of Alesia (52 BC) , as the latest excavations were carried out here Year 2001 and according to the overwhelming opinion of the researchers, the Celtic oppidum Uxellodunum , the last retreat of the Celts from the Cadurker tribe . Caesar used a different tactic during his siege - he buried the spring that supplied the Celtic village with water.

During the Second World War, some of the art treasures of the Musée du Louvre were stored in a barn in Vayrac. A fire broke out on a hot summer's day, but the townspeople immediately formed a chain of buckets and actually succeeded in putting out the fire.

Attractions

  • The parish church of Saint-Martin dates from the 13th century and is a fortified church with battlements ( Maschikulis ) in the upper part of the Gothic apse . The Lierne and Tierceron ribs of the vault inside the church date from the 16th century. The west side was completely redesigned in the 19th century. Church construction has been recognized as a monument historique since 1913 .
  • The Musée Uxellodunum shows a model of the Celtic settlement ( oppidum ) as well as excavation finds.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

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