Altillac
Commune
The Town Hall of Altillac
Coat of arms
Altillac Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine region Altillac
Coordinates: 44°58′40″N 1°50′48″E / 44.9778°N 1.8467°E / 44.9778; 1.8467Coordinates: 44°58′40″N 1°50′48″E / 44.9778°N 1.8467°E / 44.9778; 1.8467
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Corrèze
Arrondissement	Brive-la-Gaillarde
Canton	Argentat
Intercommunality	Canton de Mercœur
Government
• Mayor (2014-2020)	Robert Vialard
Area1	25.23 km2 (9.74 sq mi)
Population (2014)2	864
• Density	34/km2 (89/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	19007 /19120
Elevation	136–502 m (446–1,647 ft) (avg. 146 m or 479 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Altillac (Altilhac in Occitan) is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Altillacois or Altillacoises^[1]

Geography[edit]

View across the river from Altillac

Altillac is a large commune located in the central massif of the Dordogne in the extreme south of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was formerly called Xaintrie.

It is located some 30 km south-east of Brive-la-Gaillarde, 130 km south-west of Clermont-Ferrand, and about 180 km east of Bordeaux. Access to the commune is on road D940 which goes to the village just 1 km east of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne then continues south through the commune to Biars-sur-Cere. The D116E branches south-east from this road to join the D14 east of Gagnac-sur-Cere. There is also the D116 coming from Brivezac in the north and the D41 highway to La Chapelle-Saint-Géraud in the north-east.^[2]

The Dordogne river forms the western boundary of the commune with some streams from the commune flowing into it including the Ruisseau du Suquet. The eastern border of the commune is formed by the Ruisseau d'Orges which flows south into the Ceres river. The northern border is formed by the Ruisseau de Chauvac which flows west into the Dordogne. The Ruisseau de Laumond on the eastern side also flows east into the Orges as does the Ruisseau de Malaval in the south.^[2]

There are quite a number of villages and hamlets in the commune. These are:

Neighbouring communes and villages^[2][edit]

History[edit]

Altillac was the seat of a Viguerie under the Carolingian dynasty.^[3]

On 28 May 1942, the regional prefect of Limoges requisitioned land from the Chateau of Doux to create an internment centre for Jewish families.^[4][5]

Heraldry[edit]

The official status of the blazon remains to be determined. Blazon: Azure, a wolf rampant of Or bordure engrailed in gules, in chief the same charged with three mullets of Or.

Administration[edit]

List of Successive Mayors of Altillac

(Not all data is known)

Demography[edit]

In 2010, the commune had 854 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Population of Altillac

Culture and heritage[edit]

Civil heritage[edit]

• The Chateau du Doux was built in 1904-1906 from plans by Jean-Louis Pascal. Influenced by the style used in Deauville, it is built in the style of Xaintrie, the nearest town, to serve as a luxury hotel. It is built above a valley and offers views of the surrounding landscape. Different styles are used for the window frames: simple windows, large curved bayss with stone latticework, cross windows, skylights, and capucine passantes. It used local materials to allow it to have a regional air: stones of various colours and a slate roof. Inside, the woodwork is Art Nouveau.^[5]
  


• On the other side of the valley is the Doux domain where large farm buildings have been built: huge barns/stables on two levels with many barns built in imitation of small farms, which form a semblance of a hamlet, a henhouse, and a bread oven. All buildings - the hotel and the farm buildings - are certified as heritage of the 20th century.^[5]
  


• The Dolmen de la Borderie - a Neolithic Dolmen in good condition.^[6]
  

Religious heritage[edit]

• The Church of Saint-Etienne (14th century) is registered as an historical monument.^[7] It was built in 1528 except for the bell tower which dates back to the 14th century. The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
  
  
  
  • A set of Baptismal fonts^[8]
    
  
  
  • Covers for the Baptismal fonts (1700)^[9]
    
  
  
  • Bowls for the Baptismal fonts (12th century)^[10]
    
  
  
  • The panelling in the Choir (1676)^[11]
    
  
  
  • 6 Bas-reliefs (1676)^[12]
    
  
  
  • The panelling on the walls (1676)^[13]
    
  
  
  
  

Notable People linked to the commune[edit]

• 
  Jean-Antoine Marbot (1754-1800), General of the Army of the Republic, died in Genoa as a result of wounds received during the siege of the city. Father of Marcellin de Marbot.


• 
  Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot, General of the Empire and Baron of Marbot, more commonly known as Marcellin de Marbot (18 August 1782 in Altillac - 16 November 1854 in Paris). He inspired Arthur Conan Doyle and also published his own Memoires.


• 
  Marcel Conche, born 27 March 1922 in Altillac, French philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at the Sorbonne
  

See also[edit]

• Communes of the Corrèze department

External links[edit]

• 
  Altillac official website (in French)
  


• Altillac on the old National Geographic Institute website


• Altillac on Lion1906


• Altillac on Google Maps


• 
  Altillac on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
  


• 
  Altillac on the 1750 Cassini Map


• 
  Altillac on the INSEE website (in French)
  


• 
  INSEE (in French)
  

Notes and references[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Altillac.