Office de tourisme de Bergerac Pourpre

The river Dordogne really makes an effort!

Wide, powerful and handsome, in no way timid, the river Dordogne loves to show itself, to be approached – better still she invites you to follow her! So, let yourself be carried away on her ebbs and flows to the rhythm of the barges that once upon a time went upstream as far as the “High Country” or with the current down to the port of Bordeaux. From Urval to Lamothe-Montravel, we offer you a voyage of four stages that will allow you to better get to know this royal waterway, so rich in a natural heritage both economic and historic. So set sail on the river of great expectations!

The natural Dordogne
 From Urval to Mauzac •As it enters Bergerac country at the village of Urval, proud of its fortified church and remarkable village oven, the Dordogne widens and becomes more languorous. Between Le Buisson-de-Cadouin and Lalinde its clear waters have carved the rocks so forming magnificent meanders bordered by cliffs : the loops (‘cingles’) of Limeuil and Trémolat. In this grandiose countryside with its majestic panoramas over the plains of Alles-sur-Dordogne and Calès, in the crook of the two almost perfect river bends, fields of tobacco, corn, wheat or sunflower form a patchwork of changing colours. At Limeuil, classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France, the Dordogne is swollen by the addition of the waters of the river Vézère. From the panoramic heights of the park, site of an ancient fortified castle, one can admire the roofs and the streets of the village as they tumble down towards the confluence, once a strategic port in times of river transport.

le cingle de Tremolat

Be prepared for a long stay at Trémolat, the time to admire the cupolas and the murals in the abbey-church before taking the picturesque route leading to the panorama of Rocamadou. At the foot of the cliffs, a quiet spot, the river provides a haven and cover for numerous feathered friends: duck, heron, kite, kingfisher, cormorant, grebe and egret. Then we come upon Mauzac’s vast stretch of water where the Dordogne flows against a dam built at the beginning of the Xxth century – we can trace its history in the boatman’s house at the end of the port.

The days of river transport
 From Mauzac to Bergerac • On the other side of the port a lock marks the entrance of the canal lateral to the Dordogne. Built in the middle of the XIXth century, this fifteen kilometre waterway allowed the barges to reach Tuilières safely by avoiding the fearsome rapids of the Grand Thoret, the Gratusse and the Pesqueyroux. At high water time, both up and downstream, sailed heavy loads of wood, grain, paper, iron and wine, all regional products, or salt, sugar and spices from distant exotic parts.

ecluses de Tuilières

However, only a few decades after the canal went into service, the railway replaced the waterway, the elegant small craft gave way to trains and the bargees became railwaymen ; it was a brutal end to a long period of tradition Now dormant, the canal reveals what was the navigated Dordogne, thanks to a rambling trail which, leaving Mauzac, calls on the Lalinde bastide, the Port-de-Couze basin, and the port and the canal bridge of Saint-Capraise-de-Lalinde before reaching the Tuilières dam. It is here, thanks to an ingenious “stairway” of locks, that the canal joins the river. There is also an amazing lift reserved for migrating fish and information signs describing the history of the canal and the barges.

In the heart of the Bergerac country
 From Bergerac to Port-Sainte-Foy • The history of Bergerac cannot be separated from the Dordogne river because, while the town evolved around its chateau – today no longer standing – its heart was firmly centred on the port; a big heart palpitating to the rhythm of the squadrons of barges that tied up there.

le port de bergerac 19 siecle

A few steps away the streets of the old town are an invitation to stroll among beautiful buildings and historical sites such as the Récollets cloister, the house of Bergerac wines, Saint-Jacques’ church, the tobacco or the water transport museums. You can choose a barge trip on the river, another pleasant way of discovering the town.
 As for the towpath, today it affords a walk along the river banks as far as the Bergerac dam, then on to reach Prigonrieux and even to push on further downstream. Tucked away in the river bend that carries its name, the village of Le Fleix holds more witness to riverboat activity: notably a slipway and some wood-faced houses certain of which were built using planks and pieces of wooden hulls taken from scrapped barges.

tradition batellerie transport vin de bergerac

Vines and history
 From Port-Sainte-Foy and Lamothe-Montravel • Facing the bastide of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Port-Sainte-Foy harbours the museum of Dordogne wines and its waterway; it tells of the river, the Bergerac wine trade during the time of the barges and its export of wines to England and the Netherlands. From there the Dordogne continues its way through hillsides quartered by vines until Montcaret, where the remains and precious mosaics of a Gallo-Roman villa are preserved.

Tour Historique de Montaigne

In order to get to the Tour de Montaigne one must leave the river valley and follow one of its tributaries, the Lidoire, which at one time formed the frontier between Protestants and Catholics. The philosopher Michel Eyquem de Montaigne lived in this fine dwelling, where he wrote his famous ‘Essais’, and where he died.
 Although the battle of the 17th July 1453 (which enabled the French army to finally boot the English out of their kingdom) gave its name to the Grironde town of Castillon-la-Bataille, in fact the contest took place in the commune of Lamothe-Montravel. A stele on the banks of the Dordogne marks the place where the chief of the Anglo-Gascon section, Sir John Talbot, met his end during the fight. It reminds us also that in those ancient times the English harvested the grape in the Aquitaine!