In the land of Objat and Yssandonnais
Yssandonnais is the land where everyone get amazed by beautiful and varied landscapes: limestone, red sandstone, Protected Designation Origins apple orchards, Controled Designation Origins Périgord walnut groves. There is something for every taste !
Start with Objat, on a Sunday morning, to enjoy its very pleasant pedestrian market. Look up to the beautiful bourgeois houses lined up. And in the afternoon, to cool off, a little trip to the eco-pool is a must!
What is Yssandonnais?
It is a geographical region which territory is represented as a landscape entity: the country of limestone hills and wine-lees lands. It goes from Perpezac-le-Blanc and Yssandon (South) to Juillac (North). The scarcity of this territory lies in its geological particularity and the richness of its agriculture: cattle breeding, apples, walnuts, cereals, etc.
The Vialhe, heroes of the work of Claude Michelet in Des grives aux loups and Les pigeons ne passeront plus run a farm in Saint-Libéral (fictional village). But we can assure you that this family saga around the evolution of agriculture takes place in Yssandonnais...
Yssandon, street-based town on its hill, with its vestige of a fortress tower, its church where some paintings and orientation tables have been brought to light.
Objat and Ayen, main municipalities
Objat, "remarkable site of taste" displays its numerous bourgeois houses which belonged to market gardeners. The Objat train station allowed the opening of its farming activities to the rest of the country: in the 1880s, its railway shipped several tons of fruits and vegetables to Paris. This revolution greatly contributed to the development of the village and earned the nickname of the “Capital of Peas”. It is impossible to miss the Saint-Barthélémy church with its bell tower topped with a bulbous roof and which is the charm of this area. This is the ideal place to shop at the Brive market on Sunday morning and taste local products: apples, walnuts, veal, truffles, etc.
Ayen, a green resort and flowery village, will charm you with its dazzling viewpoints from its orientation tables, its fountains, wash houses, noble houses... Not to be missed: its local farmers' market on Thursday evenings in the summer for a festive and friendly atmosphere! At Soulet d'Ayen, visit the private arboretum "La Tuillière" for free with 1.600 species of trees and shrubs with educational labeling.
From Juillac to Saint-Robert
Then head to Juillac, home of the very famous Patrick Sébastien, "inventor of canned sardines" and Jeanne Villepreux-Power, inventor of the aquarium. Enjoy an unforgettable panorama from the orientation table.
Then, it's the unmissable Saint-Robert, one of the most beautiful villages in France perched on its limestone mound. The TV series From thrushes to wolves, based on the work of Claude Michelet, was filmed there. Its truncated Romanesque church is remarkable with its historic capitals as well as its 13th century Christ.
You like Collonges-la-Rouge? Then, yuo should go see Vars-sur-Roseix: a small red sandstone village with its Saint-Benoît church and its beautiful keystones. But also the birthplace of Hugues Duroy de Chaumareys, famous navigator who is said to have inspired the painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault.
Pratical information
How long does it take to complete the Yssandonnais circuit?
Il takes one day to do the full tour.
The unmissable activities of Yssandonnais
- Objat: the eco-pool and the market.
- Ayen: orientation tables and the local farmers' market in summer.
- Saint-Robert: themusical summer from July 14 to August 15 and the Romanesque church.
- Juillac: the orientation table.
- Vars-sur-Roseix: the village built in red stones.
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