Carennac is a small medieval village and commune in the Lot department of southwestern France, in the historical region of Quercy. It lies in the Dordogne valley beneath the limestone plateau called the Causse and is officially listed among France’s “most beautiful villages”.
History
Carennac first appears in written records in 937, originally named Carendenacus, with a church dedicated to Saint Sernin. Before 1040 the village belonged to the Abbey of Beaulieu; in 1040 Bishop Bernard III of Cahors gave it to the Abbey of Cluny, which founded the priory and built the Romanesque church of Saint-Pierre. The priory grew wealthy by the 12th century, was elevated to a deanery in 1295, and suffered damage during the Hundred Years’ War and the French Wars of Religion; repairs and reconstructions took place in the late 15th and 16th centuries.
Priory of Saint-Pierre: an 11th–12th century Romanesque church with a richly carved tympanum and adjoining cloister, notable for a 15th-century mise au tombeau sculpture and mixed Romanesque–Gothic elements.
Timbered and Renaissance houses: narrow lanes lined with 15th–16th century stone and timber houses, sculpted windows, and a harmonious local-stone streetscape that contribute to the village’s charm and heritage designation.
