Bassignac-le-Haut
Commune
An old barn in Bassignac-le-Haut
Coat of arms
Bassignac-le-Haut Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine region Bassignac-le-Haut
Coordinates: 45°12′44″N 2°04′21″E / 45.2122°N 2.0725°E / 45.2122; 2.0725Coordinates: 45°12′44″N 2°04′21″E / 45.2122°N 2.0725°E / 45.2122; 2.0725
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Corrèze
Arrondissement	Tulle
Canton	Argentat
Intercommunality	Community of communes of Canton de Saint-Privat
Government
• Mayor (2012–2020)	Jean Claude Turquet
Area1	18.37 km2 (7.09 sq mi)
Population (2010)2	204
• Density	11/km2 (29/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	19018 /19220
Elevation	253–628 m (830–2,060 ft) (avg. 540 m or 1,770 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.

Bassignac-le-Haut is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France.^[1]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bassignacois or Bassignacoises .^[2]

Geography[edit]

Bassignac-le-Haut is located in the Massif Central some 20 km north-east of Argentat and 20 km south-east of Tulle. Access to the commune is by the D13 road from Darazac in the south which passes through the commune and the village before continuing north-east along the banks of the river then across to Saint-Merd-de-Lapleau. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Le Bousquet, Vaujour, Le Mas, Vernac, Maurel, and Ymons in the commune. The commune is mostly farmland but heavily forested along the river.^[3][4]

A lake formed by the Barrage du Chastang dam on the Dordogne river forms all the western and northern border of the commune. The Ruisseau de vaujour rises in the north-west of the commune and flows the short distance north-west to the Dordogne. Similarly the Ruisseau du Roc Chabrier rises in the north and flows north into the Dordogne. The Ruisseau de la Cascade flows north through the eastern part of the commune to join the Dordogne east of the commune. The Ruisseau de Vieilzot rises just south of the commune and forms much of the southern border as it floes west to join the Dordogne in the south-western tip of the commune.^[3][4]

History[edit]

Bassignac-le-Haut appears as Baßignac le Haut on the 1750 Cassini Map^[5] and as Bassignac le Haut on the 1790 version.^[6]

Heraldry[edit]

The official status of the blazon remains to be determined. Blazon: Party per pale, at 1 Argent a bend Gules between 6 saltires Gules couped 2 and 1 at 1 and in bend at 2; at 2Gules a bend of Or, in chief Azure charged with 3 mullets of Or.

Administration[edit]

List of Successive Mayors^[7]

(Not all data is known)

Demography[edit]

In 2010 the commune had 204 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes 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 Bassignac-le-Haut

Culture and heritage[edit]

The Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens

The Covered Cross

Religious heritage[edit]

The commune has several religious buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

• The Ouradour Cemetery Cross (Middle Ages)^[9]
  


• The Ciriex Cemetery Cross (12th century)^[10]
  


• A Covered Cross in the old cemetery (15th century)^[11]
  


• The Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens (16th century)^[12] The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
  
  
  
  • A Painting with frame: Saint Roch (18th century)^[13]
    
  
  
  • A Painting with frame: John the Baptist (18th century)^[14]
    
  
  
  • An Altar Painting with frame: Christ on the Cross (18th century)^[15]
    
  
  
  • A Painting with frame: Presentation of the Rosary to Saints Dominic and Catherine (18th century)^[16]
    
  
  
  
  

Notable people linked to the commune[edit]

• 
  Stephen of Obazine (1085-1154), priest and hermit famed for his pious nature, born in the commune.

See also[edit]

• Communes of the Corrèze department

Notes and references[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  Bassignac-le-Haut Official website (in French)
  

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