Issigeac, France - May 30, 2008

Where the D14 road crosses the border between the Dordogne and the Lot-et-Garonne departments is the village of Issigeac. Built on the site of a wealthy Gallo-Roman villa that later gave way to a Merovingian necropolis and then, around the 6th century CE, to a Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Peter, the village has some unusual features. Chief among these is the mix of timbered medieval buildings with much later stone houses from the 16th and 17th centuries. The current church, St Félicien, was built on the site of the priory and completed in 1527. The severe looking Palace of the Bishops of Sarlat stands across the square the church.
Curiously, Issigeac has become very popular with British retirees and the Realtor offices we visited were both staffed by English folk. Such foreign interlopers however, are fairly much confined to modern housing in nearby developments. Check here for more views.