Land
of history
Can you hear the stones whispering? They say walls have ears, but they can also whisper. They hum, to anyone who will listen, the moving melody of the past. They tell stories of long ago, of glory, tragedy and sometimes wonder.
Listen to the battle song of medieval fortresses; listen to the canticle of Romanesque churches; listen to old stones and embark on a journey back in time!
Castles
Our destination boasts two medieval jewels open to visitors. Val castle, a jewel of the Haute Auvergne region, and Château d’Auzers, inhabited by the same family since the 15th century. Other castles (closed to visitors) can be admired along the way: Couzans, Trancis, Murat-la-Rabbe and Montfouilloux.
Some of Sumène Artense’s most remarkable sites, such as Thynières, Pic de Charlus and Marchal, offer ruins of medieval sites.
Remarkable churches
and chapels
The landscapes of Sumène Artense are dotted with a wealth of religious monuments. Romanesque art is omnipresent, with the Ydes-Bourg church, the Vendes chapel and the listed Notre-Dame du Roc Vignonnet chapel in Antignac among the finest examples.
Other architectural styles are also present, such as the Gothic style of the Trémouille church and the modern style of the Saint-Pierre church.
Mining
heritage
Traces of the presence of coal in the village of Champagnac date back to the 16th century. Coal outcrops in various parts of the village and surrounding area gave farmers the opportunity to extract coal for personal heating purposes, but also to sell it to blacksmiths and farriers. Until the 18th century, artisanal puys were mined clandestinely, but it was not until 1836 that royal concessions began to be granted for official coal mining.
The creation of the Champagnac railway station in 1882 marked the beginning of the industrialization of the mine. The mine reached its peak during the 1st World War, with an annual production of 140,000 tonnes of coal. The arrival of new technologies, the end of the railroad line with the impoundment of the Bort-les-Orgues dam in 1951 and the mine’s lack of modernity led to its closure in July 1959.
Hydropower
Sumène Artense has always benefited from an abundance of waterways. The many mills built on these waterways were used to process cereals. They soon became veritable little hydroelectric plants, supplying public lighting to the surrounding villages.
From 1927 onwards, local hydroelectricity became an industrial activity, with the electrification of the railroad lines essential to the region’s development. Major structures were built on the Rhue river with the Auzerette dam, then on the Dordogne with the Marèges and Bort-les-Orgues dams. In 1972, the Artense plateau was tapped for its water resources. Today, this network enables us to supply the French national network and cope with peaks in consumption.
Small-scale
heritage
The villages of Sumène Artense proudly display stone houses, lauze-roofed barns, bread ovens, washhouses, wells and crosses. The village of Saignes, the village of Chastel-Marlhac and the hamlet of Milhac are exemplary in this respect.
Dry-stone walls are a signature feature of the Sumène Artense landscape. At Le Monteil, the “Millange” wall, built in the late 19th century from large blocks of lava, perfectly illustrates the magnitude of the work carried out by previous generations. It earned its builder agricultural merit.
Railway
engineering structures
Built in 1892, the Sumène viaduct at Vendes (listed as a Historic Monument) is one of the many engineering structures on the Paris – Aurillac railway line. At 46 m high and 367 m long, it played a key role in the region’s economic development, notably by transporting coal from the Ydes/Champagnac coalfield.
The 534 m-long tunnel from Parensol to Bassignac is used by the Piste Verte. Illuminated along its entire length and surfaced with tarmac, it is ideal for walking, cycling and rollerblading.
Other remarkable railway structures include the Salsignac viaduct at Antignac and the Bassignac viaduct.
Roman
Roads
The Roman conquest was accompanied almost everywhere by the establishment of a true road network. A milestone discovered near Ydes-Bourg (now displayed in the courtyard of the Château de Val) provides evidence of the existence of a Roman road in the Sumène Valley.
In Vendes, the PR24 trail follows an ancient Roman road. Another section is visible on the PR8 trail as it approaches the hamlet of La Bonnetie.
The Fiddlers
of Artense
Between 1870 and 1980, more than a hundred fiddlers were recorded in the Artense region. Learning the instrument took place within families, passed down from father to son. There were many opportunities to play: weddings, military conscriptions, “Réveillez” celebrations, dances, and evening gatherings.
It is even said that in taverns or during festivals, “the violin was passed around like a glass of wine.”