Collonges-la-Rouge

Collonges-la-Rouge is built almost entirely of deep red sandstone, quarried from the Puy de Valège just north of the village, and is nicknamed the 'town of twenty-five towers'. It grew around a priory on the pilgrim road to Compostela, and in 1308 the viscount of Turenne granted it its own courts, which bred whole families of lawyers and notaries. In 1942 the whole village was listed as a historic monument.

Highlights

• Saint-Pierre church and its 12th-century tympanum in white stone (FR)
• The covered market hall, whose oven is relit for August's bread festival
• The 16th-century Maison de la Sirène with its vaulted porch
• The Manoir de Vassinhac, home of the Turenne viscounty's governors
• Pottery made from the local red clay, the 'Terre de Collonges'

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.