Salers

Salers is a municipality in the department of Cantal in the Auvergne region of France. The place is a completely preserved town of the Renaissance period, with private and public buildings, city walls, towers and church. He was inducted into the union of the most beautiful villages in France. Despite its 354 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) small population, is the site of a historical, cultural and agricultural center in the sparsely populated mountain region of Cantal.

• 4.1 Tourism as a determining economic factor
• 4.2 Leisure activities
• 4.3 Flavours

Geographical Location

Salers is on the edge of a high plateau in 950 meters altitude, on a western foothills of the Monts du Cantal, in a rough grazing land in the Xaintrie.

South to the east offers a beautiful view over the valley of the river Maronne. 10 km as the crow flies to the east you can see the summit of the 1592 meter high chain Puy Violent ( German: " huge mountain"). Salers is the last major settlement west of the highest pass of the Cantal, the 1588 meter high Pas de Peyrol. This is a 30 km by road D680.

Aurillac south you can reach over 40 km of highway. The town of Mauriac in the northwest is 19 road miles away.

History

In early medieval times Salers was the castle of the Barons de Salers. On the small square opposite the castle hill, citizens and farmers settled. Despite the opposition of the barons of Salers authorized in 1428 Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Auvergne, the citizens of Salers to build a city wall.

The data obtained to date houses, city walls, the city's two towers and the church emerged in the following two centuries.

1665 was convicted after a blood feud of Baron François de Salers by the High Court of the Auvergne in Clermont- Ferrand to death. The castle was razed; the site and the surrounding land became the possession of the royal family de Scorailles. This feudal system was finally abolished in the French Revolution.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries Salers was a regional market for agricultural products, especially for the local cheese.

Culture and sights

Town houses and public buildings

The buildings are brick predominantly from the black volcanic rock of the region. Noteworthy are:

• Grande Place, with its picturesque scenery of old houses.
• Ancien Baillage ( former bailiwick ) with its round bays and large interior spaces.
• Maison de Bargues with balcony from the 15th century, decorated with graceful sculptures.
• The so-called Maison des Templars ( Templar House ) from the 15th century was in reality running Order of St. John and now contains the city's history collection of Salers.

Great place with old bailiwick

Templar House

City Gate Porte du Belfry

City ​​towers

Porte du Belfry and Porte de la Martille.

Église St. Mathieu

The church from the late 15th century has taken on a porch from previous Romanesque. The single main house turns into six side chapels. The bell tower was rebuilt in the 19th century by lightning. Inside the church there are tapestries from the 17th century, paintings by Ribera and a polychrome stone burial of 1495; at the west portal you can see remnants of Romanesque sculpting.

Chapel of Notre -Dame-de -Lorette

The chapel is located at the eastern end of the village towards the mountains.

Tourism

Tourism as an economic factor determining

Tourism is the dominant economic factor which is given the place alive today. This is suggested by their very appearance scattered throughout the local restaurants and shops with souvenirs and culinary specialties of the region back. Out of season, indicate barred window and door shutters that many of the old houses now serve as a weekend rental for city dwellers.

Salers has around 400,000 visitors a year.

Activities

In addition to the cultural and culinary tourism, depending on the season, hiking and cross-country skiing the main tourist recreational opportunities. For fit cyclists it may be tempting to follow the footsteps of the Tour de France, which many a time, following the road D680 to move across the Pas de Peyrol.

Culinary

In the restaurants and grocery stores in the place you can enjoy and buy the typical specialties of the region:

• The various types of cheese, for example, named after the region of Cantal cheese, the Salers cheese, Saint- Nectaire, Bleu d' Auvergne or a Reblochon.
• The ham and the various types of sausages from Auvergne.
• Hearty main dishes, such as the hot sausage served local or in the form of small bags of cooked tripe ( tripoux ).
• As a side dish to a withaligot example served - a garlic mashed potatoes and fresh tome cheese which is the preliminary stage of Cantal cheese.
• Truffade, baked potatoes with Tome cheese
• Appetizers such as the hot served, consisting of pig's head, bread and plum pie.

Personalities

The large square in the center of the place is also called Place Tyssandier - d'Escous. A monument in the square is reminiscent of Ernest Tyssandier d' Escous (1813 - 1889), featuring the famous Salers cattle bred from the domestic cattle breed shows.