Sainte-Orse (; ) is a commune in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

department in

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

in southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The church of Saint Ursus (''Saint Ours'') dates from the 11th-12th century. The castle dates from the 15th-16th century.

Population

Village history

The first written reference of the town is the village church, "Sancta Ursa" recorded in the year 1072. The "

Cassini map The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Cas ...

" of

between 1756 and 1789, shows the village under the name of "'Saint Orse"', and during the revolutionary period of the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

(1792-1795), the name was "Orse-le-Pierreux".

Landmarks

A number of historic buildings are located in the town: * Church of Saint-Ours, 11th or 12th century Romanesque

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

with a 19th-century

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

. It is listed as a historical monument since 1970. * Several

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

sarcophagi. * The

also preserves a relic of

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

(a piece of the belt of the former

Pontiff In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any h ...

). * Château de Sainte-Orse, 15th and 16th centuries.Guy Penaud, Dictionnaire des châteaux du Périgord (Sud Ouest, 1996) p. 255. * La Salle gentilhommiere, 18th century, today a school. * 18th century Manor of La Faye. * Château de Laudonie Den of Peyre-brune.

References

Communes of Dordogne {{SarlatlaCanéda-geo-stub

Population

Village history

Landmarks

See also

References