The pedigree of this lush and abundant region between the Dordogne and the Vézère rivers finds expression in this appealing old market town, a place of medieval streets and restored houses of Gothic and Renaissance origin. I seem always to arrive on market day, and that is not good for fully appreciating the architecture and the heritage it reflects, but it is a splendid way of getting to know the regional produce, its cheeses, olives, foie gras (of course), truffles and wines.
At the heart of Périgord Noir, Sarlat lies in a hollow surrounded by a mosaic of wooded hills, a medieval settlement that evolved around a Benedictine abbey of Carolingian roots. The town’s great charms lie in the fact that, mercifully, modern history has largely passed it by, leaving a centre comprised of impeccably restored stone buildings and narrow pedestrianised streets. Not quite preserved in aspic, but it is one of the few Villes d'art et d'histoire in France evocative of the 14th century.
Sarlat’s lively main square, the 17th-century town hall on one side and the disused Église Ste-Marie, now an indoor market, on another. A panoramic elevator to the church building allows you to get an aerial view of the town and its setting among the hills.
In spite of its ilustriousness, Sarlat remains a small, friendly, provincial market town, home to merchants during the Ancien Régime, a place of aesthetic allure founded on its wealth of Gothic and Renaissance townhouses.
Sarlat was a perfect setting for Richard Donner’s film Timeline based on the late Michael Crichton's book about a team of present-day archaeologists sent back in time to rescue their professor from medieval France.