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Pleaux Small town of character
Nestled between the arms of the Dordogne and the Maronne rivers, from the summer pastures of the high country of Salers to the heather of Xaintrie, Pleaux joined the "Small Towns of Character" in 2017...
Approved as a "Small Town of Character", the town of Pleaux offers its visitors a history rich in events, illustrated by a remarkable and highly diverse architectural heritage.
At the very beginning of Christianity in Haute-Auvergne (6th / 7th century), the primitive city developed around the baptismal church of Saint-Jean, which no longer exists. In the 9th century, five monks and their prior from the Benedictine abbey of Charroux settled there and contributed to the construction of the current church of Saint-Sauveur (current church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste) and a monastic complex. In 1289, Philip IV the Fair put an end to the incessant quarrels between the lords of the city and the prior by establishing a charter of pariage with the abbot of Charroux. Pleaux then became a fortified town called "Villefranche de Pleaux" with its original enclosure and the new town consisting of a public square, surrounded by houses, with a market hall and weight. Pleaux subsequently experienced troubled periods during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion.
An important cultural center, Pleaux also saw the installation in 1630 of a convent of the Carmelite order, transformed in 1806 into a minor seminary, which trained part of the elite of Cantal until its suppression in 1906.
Five tower houses still illustrate the remarkable and emblematic character of the town today. Outside the village, a bocage landscape characteristic of the Pays de la Xaintrie, conceals numerous residences, manor houses and manor houses, opulent agricultural buildings made of basalt and granite with their slate or flagstone roofs. In this prosperous region, the surrounding villages and hamlets reveal a small, elegant and endearing heritage: chapels, ovens, mills, dovecotes, crosses....
Active associations organize numerous events. Pleaux, also labeled "Green Resort", also reveals to visitors the cultural, sporting, festive and gastronomic know-how of this region located between the Dordogne valley and the Pays de Salers...
