Viam () is a commune in the

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

department in central

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 village is positioned on a lake, used for swimming, fishing, water-skiing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and land activities such as hiking and cycling.

Geography

Viam is a commune in the Massif Central located on the

Plateau de Millevaches 220px, Location of the Plateau de Millevaches in France 220px, Plateau de Millevaches The Plateau de Millevaches (; ) is an upland area in Limousin a former administrative region of France. It covers approximately 3,500 km2 and crosses the b ...

. The commune is also located in the ''parc naturel régional de Millevaches en Limousin'' (Regional Nature Park of Millevaches in the Limousin).

Population

History

The earliest human traces go back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period. Two polished axes and carved flints were discovered at six locations. In the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

period, a route from

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

crossed the commune. Seven sites have remains of Gallo-Roman construction, the most important occupying the ''Plateau du Domaine de Plazanet'' where a double column was uncovered. Two cremated burial sites were discovered nearby. One, dated to the 1st century A.D., rested under a 15 metre diameter mound of earth. The other, consisting of a granite burial chest, dates from the end of the 2nd century. Another special burial chest includes three receptacles. The parish of Viam seems to originate from the year 1000. In 1154, a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

from

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian (or Hadrian) IV (; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 until his death in 1159. Born in England, Adrian IV was the first Pope ...

, confirms the church as the property of the

Abbey of Tulle The Diocese of Tulle (Latin: ''Dioecesis Tutelensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Tulle'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Tulle, France. The diocese of Tulle comprises the whole ''département'' of Corrèze. The Abbey of Tulle was ...

. In the village of Plazanet, sixteen silos, divided into three groups, belonging to a farm of that time. Near the village of Monceaux, the remains of a castle occupy a promontory dominating the

Vézère The Vézère (; ) is a 211-km-long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to the Dordogne (river), Dordogne. Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the Massif Central. It flows into the Dordog ...

river. In 1514, a Laurent de Monceaux was a curate at Viam. In the middle of the 14th century, the Château de Monceaux, owned by the Lord Murat de Tarnac, was sold to the Comte family, a middle-class family in Treignac and elevated to the nobility thereafter. At the end of the seventeenth century, the coat of arms of Sir Pierre Comte of Monceaux de Viam was blazoned with ''d'argent à un arbre de sinople''.

Places and monuments

Église de Viam

The parish church of Viam was probably built in the 12th century, as mentioned in its general structure. It is built on a rocky headland, all its walls resting on it. Well situated, it dominates the lake, the village square and the surrounding buildings. Essentially Romanesque, with thick walls, narrow openings on the south side, a half-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

, quite rare in the

and

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s of different profiles reign under the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

. The interior building is 22m long, and the width and the average height are 5m. The church is composed of a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, three bays and six columns, including the marquees are adorned with stylised

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an ...

s, of

Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...

. The original ceiling was made of wood, as in many Romanesque churches of their time, but in the 13th and 14th centuries, it was replaced by a Gothic-style stone

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

with crossed

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two- or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture, woodworking, and ballistics. Etymology The French Orientalist Georges Séraphin Colin gives as ...

arches. At the time the church was revamped, a Gothic style is also found on the main entrance and the right side door. The two-level steeple-wall is flanked by an imposing buttress. On its upper part, there is a double arched arcade in which two bells hang. One, dating back to 1581, weighs 120 kg. The other, weighing 245 kg, dates from 1866. The entrance porch has a semi-circular tympanum; it is topped by a triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

in a lesser relief that houses a shell. The Church of Saint-Martin was classified as a historic monument in 1976.

Buildings

Throughout the territory of the commune of Viam, there are many crosses, often in granite in various forms. The house of Valentin Didey and Eugène Leblanc is located by the lake.

Dam

The

EDF EDF may refer to: Organisations * Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association * Électricité de France, a French energy company ** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary ** EDF Luminus, their Belgian subsidiary * Environmental Defense Fund, ...

dam of Monceaux-La-Virole was built on the Vézère River. Construction work on the dam began in 1940. The area was filled with water in 1946. Details: * Dam height on foundations: 34 m * Lake area: 183 ha * Holding Volume (maximum shore): 20 million m³ * Normal river flow rate: 6.7 m³/s * Maximum river flow rate: 140 m³/s * Water intake: 13 m³/s

Notable people

Richard Millet Richard Millet (born 1953) is a French author. Biography Early life He was born in Viam, Corrèze in 1953. He spent part of his childhood in the neighborhood of Badaro in Beirut, Lebanon. Work and career In 1994, he won the Prix de l'essai, ...

* Geneviève Fourgnaud,

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

References

{{authority control Communes of Corrèze Corrèze communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia