Located where the Corrèze, Périgord and Quercy meet, Brive and its region are a charming destination, where culinary delights merge with every picturesque little village, or during the search for a nature yet untamed.
The heritage of the Brive region is a package deal, combining landscape and know-how.
A multi-facetted landscape, where hills and valleys follow each other, and barren limestone plateaus lie by luxurious forests. The hiker discovers a gentler way of life, most tangible in the fall, when nature adorns herself with a thousand colours.
Brive’s history goes back to the dawn of time. Because of its climate and its wholesome landscape, it was settled as far back by Cro-Magnon, who was followed by the Ligurians (XIIth Century B.C.), the Celts and the Romans.In Celtic, "Briva Curretia" means "Bridge over the Corrèze".
SAINT MARTIN’S COLLEGIATE CHURCH
dedicated to Saint Martin de Brive, who was stoned in 407 on the site of the current church. Both the high arches and the majesty of the sculpted images indicate the importance of the Collegiate Church. The vaults in the nave were rebuilt in 1310 in diagonal ribs. A sculpted Roman ornamentation is used around the choir. At the church’s main entrance, the XIth Century baptistery and XIIth wrought-iron lamp holder set off this historical treasure. The crypt, built from remains of Merovingian and Carolingian churches, contains sarcophagi and treasures.
THE ALDERMEN’S TOWER
Near Saint-Martin’s Collegiate Church, in the narrow Aldermen’s Street. This magnificent tower, covered with fine sculptures, is enhanced by Renaissance-style arcades, foliage scrolls and croquets. The door header bears a salamander, so dear to François I.
THE NOBLE LABENCHE HOTEL
a complex of building dating to the XVIth, XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries. The beautiful Renaissance Hotel is the most remarkable sample of regional civil architecture. It was probably built during the reign of François I, around the year 1540, by Jean II de Calvimont, Lord of Labenche, the King’s Keeper of the Seals and Notary for the Lower Limousin. The placement is set at right angles, on the fifteenth-century grounds. Ribbed, mullioned windows are topped with false bays forming medallions in which members of Calvimont’s family appear in half-figures. A door, framed by Corinthian columns and crowned with a triangular pediment on a bucranium- and rosette-decorated frame, leads into the Hotel.
THE COLLEGE OF DOCTRINARIANS
dates back to the XVII th Century. A half-turret and a beautiful capital colonnade combine to form a lavish entrance, which also includes a large portal, topped with a triangular pediment, all of which is set off in the yellowish tones of Grammont sandstone. The Honour Court is surrounded by three two-storey, mansard-roofed buildings: The bonding is remarkable. The lofts are topped with decorated scallops and three balls, witnesses to the originality of XVII-Century buildings in Brive-la-Gaillarde. Then comes a spiral staircase in an imbedded tower. Next, the central building, where a second staircase, this one with three flights of sculpted limestone, with a pilaster handrail, offers a rising perspective. It was in this college that, among others, the philosopher-doctor Cabanis, the natural scientist Latreille, the illustrious Marshall Brune and the abbot of Feletz, member of the French Academy studied the classics.
THREE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN FRANCE
Let Collonges-la-Rouge, former station on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, charm you. A distinguishing trait of the village is that it was built in red limestone. Discover some of its more beautiful monuments: castles, the church, the covered market, arched cellars, Correzian cottages. Discover the history of the town of Turenne, sitting atop a rocky promontory, through the ruins of its castle; the Caesar Tower and rectangular dungeon still survive. Stop at Curemonte, richly endowed with ancient building resembling castles, to be found throughout the town.
Brive tourist information centre
Place du 14 juillet – 19 100 Brive
Tel: +33 (0)5 55 24 08 80
Website: www.brive-tourisme.com
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