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It is nicknamed The City of 25 Towers, it is because a stroll in this medieval city with its fortified towers is real gymnastics for the cervical. Everything is so pretty, harmonious and shimmering with this ocher red color, that we are amazed! This color comes from the red sandstone, used to build the houses and monuments of the village. As with brick, there is iron oxide inside the clay, which as it oxidizes, takes on that glowing hue that refracts light so well... Old-fashioned shops, restaurants, craftsmen, it is a very touristic village which teems with activities in summer. Don't miss the Saint-Pierre church and its elegant octagonal bell tower. The church was twice fortified and enlarged. Not far away is the Chapel of the Penitents, which has benefited from a long restoration to restore its cachet and once again adorn it with magnificent stained glass windows. Collonges is intimately linked to Santiago de Compostela, it is a pilgrimage stopover, which passes through the village from the Way of Rocamadour. Collonges of course has a market hall which is remarkable because at the bottom is a banal oven, which was once used to bake bread for all the villagers (with the levy of banalities, a tax!). Continue to the Mermaid House, a small museum of arts and popular traditions, it is open in summer and it is then the opportunity to enter a house in the village! To make your visit easier, here is the map of Collonge-la-Rouge. For cyclists, here is a nice loop to do with the family (fr), 14 kilometers of cycling around the village.
To visit in Collonges-la-Rouge: The Castel of Vassinhac, a Château all dressed in red, of course. The visit of the castle includes that of the park and explanations on the history of the village. A good time in perspective.
Collonge-la-Rouge has this particularity, that it is the first village to have received the label of the Most Beautiful Villages of France! Because the creator of the association which awards this label is Mr. Charles Ceyrac, then Mayor of the city.
Between Beaulieu and Collonge is the Museum of Neanderthal Man. Because in the region the very first skeleton of a Neanderthal man was exposed. The museum is the ideal place to learn more about this ancestor of humanity.
Just next to Collonges is Meyssac, another charming village, all dressed in sandstone (click to see the Meyssac tour circuit - fr). Remains of ramparts, houses of masters or nobles, half-timbered, a very beautiful hall, it is an interesting stopover and less touristy than Collonges. Nearby is a popular site for geologists: the Meyssac fault (fr). On one side limestone sediments, on the other red sandstone, we are here at the crossroads of two geological compartments! To understand and take advantage of this geological particularity, there are 2 pedestrian circuits and a car circuit with 5 interpretation stations.
If you want to know more about Collonges-la-Rouge, go to the Tourist Office by clicking here!
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