Villages of France: Collonges La Rouge

About twenty kilometers from Brive-la-Gaillarde, on the border between Limousin and Quercy, Collonges-la-Rouge offers an original and unusual spectacle, both for the splendor of its buildings in purple sandstone, against the contrasting green of the valley and for the wealth of its heritage.

Collonges-la-Rouge

Mornings are probably the best time to visit it; sitting for a moment on the terrace of a café, listening to the village gradually awakening and admiring the sunlight that magnifies this architectural gem.

Collonges-la-Rouge

The village has very ancient origins. Indeed, the monks of the Charroux abbey in Poitou founded a priory here in the 8th century following a donation from Count Roger de Limoges. The priory was integrated by the Viscount de Turenne in 844 that attracted, under his protection, a population of peasants, artisans and traders. Around its buildings, protected by a fence, the community thrived on pilgrims, heading to Compostela via Rocamadour, as a source of income.

Later, Collonges went through the Wars of Religion relatively peacefully, as the two aisles of the church were used alternately for Catholic and Protestant worship. After the Wars of Religion, the reconstruction of the patrimony of the nobility coincided with the rise of the Viscount. It was in this period that the noble residences of the Viscount's officers were built. After the sale of the Viscount to the Crown of France in 1738, which led to the end of his tax privileges, and then the Revolution, which destroyed the buildings of the priory, the city found only ephemeral prosperity in the early 19th century.

Subsequently, Collonges lost most of its inhabitants, and turned into a stone quarry until the beginning of the 20th century, when a few people created the Friends of Collonges association, which allowed the entire site to be classified in 1942.

Today, after a long restoration, we can enjoy the red sandstone with ocher shades, the slate grey roofs and the green vines hanging on the walls form the palette of this small charming town.

Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges-la-Rouge

And, each stone is a witness to history. 

From its past as a stopover for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, the village has notably retained the Saint-Pierre church, erected in the 11th and 12th centuries. 

Collonges-la-Rouge

The Renaissance mansion is a testimony of how the medieval village became, in the 13th century, the residence of the powerful Viscount of Turenne. 

The old 16th century grain and wine market, which still houses the common oven, recalls the flourishing times of this commercial city. The Chapel of the Penitents, now an exhibition venue, used to host the Confraternity of Black Penitents from 1765 until the end of the 19th century, one of whose missions was to bury the dead for free.

Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges-la-Rouge