Bassillac et Auberoche is a village in the Dordogne, in the Aquitaine region, about ten kilometers east of Périgueux.
The town was created on 1 January 2017 following the merger of the villages of Bassillac (1831 inhabitants), Blis-et-Born (461 inhabitants), Le Change (613 inhabitants), Eyliac (733 inhabitants), Milhac-d'Auberoche (589 inhabitants) and Saint-Antoine-d'Auberoche (167 inhabitants) and therefore has a total of almost 4,500 inhabitants.
The vast territory of the new entity (103 km²) which owes its name to the common seat and the old castellany of Auberoche belongs to the Périgord blanc, so called for its limestone subsoil. The typical landscape, hilly, green, rich in watercourse, is famous for its cultures that make it a reference for gourmets (red fruits, foie gras...).
While having benefited from the proximity of the agglomeration of Périgueux, the villages forming Bassillac et Auberoche have preserved a rich architectural heritage despite a history sometimes troubled (Hundred Years War, Wars of Religion) and a natural environment that will delight fans hiking and cultural tourism.
A discovery of the new town can begin with the town of Bassillac, which has a historical heritage of interest.
This is the case of the Château de Rognac, north-east of the village, along the course of the Isle which has been the object of a diversion to feed the moat. A mill was once implanted there too. Built in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a stronghold of insurgents during the Fronde. Composed of a round tower at the corner of two main building, if it still has defensive elements, its vocation is now residential and it houses cottages.
In the village, still, the castle of Goudeau, the lodge of Mercourby and its dovecote, and of course the Romanesque church of the Invention of Saint-Etienne, remodeled in the 16th century, are also worth a look.
On the environmental front, the wooded area of Petit Rognac in the northeast of the village, classified and protected for the quality of its flora, and the groves and wet meadows of the Isle Valley, are of great interest.
As for leisure, in Bassillac, the cultural center regularly programs quality shows. Information on +33 5 53 54 42 01.
For athletes, tennis lessons can be booked at +33 5 53 54 42 57.
Finally, since it is on the territory of the former municipality is located the airport of Périgueux, several related activities can be practiced there (for the confirmed visitors or a discovery). For gliding (gliders), contact the +33 6 76 92 83 65, for the model aircraft, to join the +33 6 24 90 40 42 and for baptisms of the air or discovered flights, to contact the flying club in +33 6 80 93 57 42.
We continue the tour through the village of Blis-et-Born, the ruins of the castle of Richardie where there is a 16th century portal and a chapel of the 17th century, and several Carthusian monasteries (19th century houses of beautiful but isolated) and then the village of Change, former fortress erected in the tenth to defend Périgueux Norman incursions. This did not prevent the fire of the small city during the Hundred Years War. To see nevertheless, the church Saint-Jean-Baptiste, of Romanesque style, erected in the eleventh century and endowed with a dome. From the old chateau castle of Auberoche, remains a chapel of the twelfth century.
Many other castles mark out this rich little village. Those of Bannes (fifteenth century) and Blanzac (seventeenth) have a dovecote, just like that of Laborde (rebuilt in the eighteenth). The manor of the Faurie (fifteenth century), the castle of Lauterie (seventeenth) in the heart of a park of 16 hectares considered a rich ecological interest, that of the Maleffe (XV) and the Sandre (XV) are still noble buildings, always private property.
In addition to several mills, some built in the Middle Ages, a step is required at the Roc castle, which dates "only" of the nineteenth century but had tragic hours during the last war. In 1942, Jews were interned before being taken to Drancy and then deposited at Auschwitz. A stele commemorates this tragedy. On the environmental front, to the west of this former municipality, which is definitely rich in historical heritage, the end of the Causse de Cubjac, made up of a forest of oaks on a limestone subsoil, is classified as a protected natural area for its varied flora..
In Eyliac, the visitor still discovers a village rich in castles: that of Chalupie dates from the seventeenth century, like that of Eyliac (remodeled in the seventeenth and eighteenth), the mansion of Puy (XVIII) and Roquette (XVII) and the remains of the castle of Richardie (XV). How the territory flourished during the modern era, from the Middle Ages to the Revolution. We will not forget the church of St. Martin, its Romanesque choir of the twelfth century, the nave of the sixteenth and porch bell tower of the nineteenth.
At Milhac-d'Auberoche, the castle of La Besse was an outbuilding of the castle Auberoche. It has a tower decorated with machicolations of the sixteenth century then the whole is reworked and becomes more residential.
As for the church dedicated to St. Mark, it was erected in the fourteenth century.
Finally, on the village of Saint-Antoine-d'Auberoche, we can see the Church of St. Anthony of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and its amazing bell tower with a fortified wall rebuilt in the twentieth. To see then, the castle of the Cave (XVIIe century) and the manor house of Cros (XVII).
All these historical or natural sites are included in hiking trails centered on the territory of Bassillac et Auberoche. Documentation and information on +33 5 53 54 42 01. For larger circuits using for example the route of the GR 36 which passes through the town (connecting Normandy to the Pyrenees-Orientales) or routes adapted to mountain bikes, documentation and information at +33 5 53 53 10 63.
