Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The building of the Impasse des Violettes, classified as a Historical Monument, is distinguished by its atypical access: a vaulted passage leads to a main facade adorned with an external stone staircase serving the first floor. This architectural retreat is filled on the second level by an advance of the house, supported by beams and windows, while the exterior wall, with half-timbers, rests on this structure. The rear façade has an imposing stump of chimney in corbellation, starting from a door in the middle of the hanger on the ground floor, typical of medieval utility and residential buildings.

The front façade combines defensive and aesthetic elements: a rectangular door gives access to a house illuminated by a window gemined in third-point, characteristic of civil Gothic architecture. The two large bays, perhaps initially equipped with cruciform snake, suggest a desire for openness and light, rare for the time. Together, with its facades and roofs protected since 1977, illustrates the adaptation of medieval constructive techniques to the urban constraints of Sarlat, a city preserved in the Black Perigord.

Located at the bottom of an impasse, the building reflects the dense organisation of medieval cities, where narrow passages and high-rise constructions optimised space. Its exterior staircase, a practical and decorative element, bears witness to the ingenuity of 15th century artisans, mixing functionality and ornaments. The property, now private, retains traces of its past use, probably linked to artisanal or commercial activity, common in historical centers such as Sarlat-la-Canéda, a commercial crossroads since the Middle Ages.

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