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Saint-Cyprien

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Visit Saint-Cyprien

Saint Cyprien is situated in the Dordogne department just north of the River Dordogne, between Lalinde and Sarlat.

The main street of St Cyprien is the Rue Gambetta. This is an elegant street with lots of wrought iron balconies and detailed stone work and is packed with bars and restaurants and nice looking boutiques. But head behind here to the Place de la Liberte and you enter the beautiful medieval old town of St Cyprien.

Leading up from the Place de la Liberte to the ancient Abbay above is the lovely Rue du Terme. This street has a large Perigordine mansion house on the right and lots of other charming buildings surrounding it.

Continue climbing upwards and admire the lovely buildings as you go. A mix of golden stone houses and half-timbered buildings line the streets.

Heading up above the main part of the town you enter the ‘Montmartre’ area of St Cyprien. Here streets are steep and narrow and the buildings are built on a more modest scale. They give the impression of having been squeezed into a small space and indeed these are houses built inside the city walls when space for buildings was running out. St Cyprien occupied a border position between Eleanor’s Aquitaine and the French armies and was under attack during the Hundred Year’s War and the Wars of Religion. The views from the Montmartre area over the Dordogne valley and St Cyprien itself are superb.

Also in an elevated position is the Abbey church of St Cyprien. The bell-tower keep survives from the 12th century but the rest of the Abbey was burnt down in the wars of religion and rebuilt in 1685. Inside the church is an alter which contained one of the thorns of Jesus’ crown, brought here by a Flemish nun fleeing revolution terror. Unfortunately this was robbed in 1997!

Below the abbey are more small lanes which are known as the sewing district and the Place des Oies (geese) was the market place dedicated to poultry.

Market day at St Cyprien is a Sunday.

Saint-Cyprien Photos (click any picture to visit)