Carennac

Carennac is a medieval village in the Dordogne Valley in the Lot department, classified as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France.

On a rocky terrace overlooking the river, Carennac stretches along the banks of the Dordogne. The site has been occupied since Gallo-Roman times, but it was the Cluny abbey that made it famous by founding a priory here in 1047.

From the ^13th century onwards, the town grew up around a rich priory with monastic buildings, a church, a cloister…

In Carennac, in the heart of the Dordogne Valley, the houses have preserved their carved windows, the Romanesque church its tympanum dating from the 12th century.^ème century, the Château des Doyens the historical and artistic memory of the site, and the Cluniac priory from the 11th^ème century has forgotten nothing of the time when it was home to Fénelon. The French Revolution marked the decline of the village and the priory, which was left to agricultural use. In the ^20th century, the priory was saved from ruin and restored. In the sky, a flight of turrets and tall chimneys reminds us of the elegance of a village classified as a “Pays d’Art et d’Histoire”.

Carennac bears witness to the saga of the Dordogne’s boatmen, who sailed down the river in “gabares”. These flat-bottomed boats transported wood to Bordeaux, then back upstream for salt, wine and exotic goods.