The Virgin’s Circular Walk in Tursac

From the centre of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, take the RD47 towards Sarlat, then the RD706 towards Montignac. The village of Tursac is about 7 km away. The walk starts at the information board behind the church, where you can park.

(S/E) With your back to the church, take the alley opposite which leads uphill to the left of the town hall. Continue along Route du Couderc until you reach the crossroads with the cross.

(1) Carry on straight ahead along Route de Fontpeyrine, then ignore the two paths on the right. Carry on straight ahead along the tarmac road. Continue along this road; if you look carefully to your left, you may spot the Fontpeyrine washhouse below the road. There used to be a small cluster of houses here; the washhouse is fed by two springs. You’ll reach the Chapel and the Fontpeyrine Spring.

(2) Carry on. Ignore a junction. The route continues along this small road, which now climbs quite steeply, to the hamlet of Fonfournel, almost at the top of the hill. Continue past the hamlet to the path called Chemin de la Baronie.

(3) Take this path on the right. Opposite the house ‘La Baronie’, there is a stunning view. Continue to the next road.

(4) At the end of this wide track, take the small path through the woods on the right. This leads to another small road (Chemin des Brugals), which you should take on the left to reach the top of the hill. You’ll come to a Fork in the road.

(5) Turn right onto the path leading to another road; cross this road to enter a new path through the woods which runs alongside it before rejoining the road. Continue along the road until you reach the junction with the Chemin de la Peyrière.

(6) Take the dirt track and follow the sign on the right marked ‘Tursac 1.4 km’. On the way back, admire the view of the village, the Manoir de la Lambertie and its famous dovecote, Château Marzac, the Petit Marzac peninsula and the rocks of La Madeleine. Continue to the hairpin bend.

(7) After the hairpin bend, turn right onto a path passing the village washhouse and the Saint-Julien spring, then turn right onto the departmental road to reach the town hall and the church in Tursac (S/E).

(S/E) A stone cross (behind the church), restored in 1995, stands on the site of the former cemetery, which was moved in 1840. Saint-Julien Church, the restoration of which was completed in 2006, is a Romanesque church with domes; the bell tower dates from the 12th century, whilst the newer part dates from the 18th century. Across the street stands a stone statue known as ‘Abondance’, created by the sculptor H. Henghes (1906–1975), who lived in the village for many years and is buried there.

At the top of the hill, directly in front of you, on the boundary wall of the house, is another sculpture by H. Henghes: ‘Deux Soleils’. This work was used to create the logo that you will see on the signposts. Continuing along this road, you will pass the Roque Véral cross, which has been partially broken since the end of the 1914–1918 war.

On your right, you will see the tomb of the two Coste sons killed during the 1914–1918 war. It was the father of these two young boys who, in his grief, broke off the side of the Roque Véral cross as well as both arms of the statue of the Virgin of the Fontpeyrine spring.

(2) The 15th-century Fontpeyrine Chapel was restored in 1980. The spring is said to be ‘miraculous’; legend has it that an ox scratched the ground, causing a spring to gush forth, in which a statue of the Virgin was found. In the past, a pilgrimage used to take place here on 8 September each year.

(7) A little further down on your right, along the path, you can see the spring and the washhouse at La Peyrière.
Traces of a group of small houses, thought to date from the Merovingian period, can still be seen here.