Assier

Assier lies on the boundary between the limestone causse of Gramat and the Limargue. Streams which flow on the Limargue disappear underground in swallow holes on reaching the causse and re-emerge several kilometres away at Saint-Sulpice in the valley of the Célé.

 

Three dolmen can be found on the causse just to the east of the village and four other dolmens and a menhir are found to the north west in the hamlet of Mons.

Around 1280 the family Castelnau-Themines made a gift of a part of their lands in Assier to the knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem who founded a commanderie consisting of a fortified house, a church, a hospital, a home for lepers and the hamlets of Mons and Valian.

In 1501 the commanderies of Assier and Bastit were united then, in 1524, Galiot de Genouillac, the king's master of artillery, acquired the properties at Assier in exchange for properties elsewhere. It was Galiot de Genouillac who built the Chateau of Assier and the church of Saint Pierre. He considered the church to be a family monument and the extraordinary frieze around the exterior celebrates war and the Battle of Marignan in Italy.

The chateau had already been sold for demolition before the French revolution and today it is held by the State, and classified as a Monument Historique.

Restaurants and shops: Restaurants, grocery shop, butcher, baker, chemist and a post office.

Market: On the first and third Monday mornings of each month there is a lively market next to the church.

Château of Assier: Open to the public. Read more...

 

 

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