Black Périgord: researched documents on the history of the former commune of La Canéda
Just sixty years after the village merged with Sarlat, the Friends of La Canéda association wants to collect photographs and testimonies with the aim of putting together an exhibition
It is exactly sixty years ago this year that La Canéda, then a village of barely 600 inhabitants, sealed its union with its neighbor, Sarlat, which had a population of over 6,000. Six decades later, "the Friends of La Canéda association is looking for any document on the history of La Canéda [photographs, written or oral testimonies], with a view to an exhibition retracing the daily life of the village," explains Mathieu Allard, a member of the young structure chaired by Denis Cousin (1).
Beyond the occasional organization of events such as the plant swap, the association wants to set up a heritage exhibition giving pride of place to photographs, with a particular emphasis on what relates to "daily life, in all areas [economy, sport, education]", continues Mathieu Allard.
"The heritage is relatively rich," continues the young man, who is well-placed to know this, as he is in charge of heritage projects for the city. The church, for example, has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1962.
David Briand
Having become residential and focused on leisure and sports with the development of the playground, the old village of La Canéda could boast a rich artisanal life with the presence of shops, blacksmiths, and a distiller at the mayor's well, the history of which Mathieu Allard tells: "Since 1875, the inhabitants of La Canéda have known the mayor's well. Built by Mr. Boyer, a trader and oil merchant, it was the only water point in the old commune. People came there to fetch water with buckets and the traveling distiller would station himself there for several days. Everyone then came with their plums or grapes to make brandy. 14 meters deep, the well takes its name from the mayor of La Canéda, Jacques Monturet, who donated it to the commune. Exhausted and closed in 1960, it was rehabilitated in 2013.
In the guide "Sarlat, town of art and history", published by Éditions du Patrimoine in 2006, it is stated that the origin of the name La Canéda is "rather poorly known. Its name perhaps comes from "canna" (reed, hemp), unless it comes from Chania, a town in Crete, due to the presence of the Templars […]"
In 2023, a focus was placed on Le Pontet , a project magnified by the creation of videographer Olivier Crouzel.
(1) Contact [email protected] or 06 70 64 86 55.
The History of Plague Victims Mathieu Allard looks back at this page of history: “The first wave of plague in Sarlat dates back to 1279 and caused more than 2,500 deaths in six months. It was at Pontet, in the leper colony built under Saint-Louis for lepers, that plague victims were sent. In the event of death, they were buried far from Sarlat, at the Laumier rock in La Canéda. But given the large number of deaths, another cemetery was quickly chosen: that of the Saint-Nicolas field, which must have been located near Aristide-Briand Avenue. Moreover, in this place, a large festival was organized by the Sarladais to celebrate the end of the plague, in the 13th century. The name of a cul-de-sac recalls this fraternity where people played, drank, and danced.
SudOuest
