Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The bridge of the Villant of Voutezac, built in the 16th century, crossed the Vézère on a width of about 75 meters. Composed of six low arch arches, it rests on piles reinforced by almond foothills on the downstream and triangular side. Its parapet, consisting of shale slabs, sevases at the entrances. A cross, of which only the cubic base remains on the middle eperon, once crowned on the work. Ranked a historic monument in 1969, this bridge is a remarkable testimony of medieval limousine architecture, integrated into a site marked by the gorges of the Vézère and a complex seigneurial history.

The Saillant, a place that was shared between Voutezac and Allassac in Corrèze, was a strategic crossroads since the Middle Ages. Attached to the Viscount of Comborn, it housed a castle, a toll and a chapel built between 1620 and 1624 by John II of Lasteyrie. The bridge, a key element of this arrangement, facilitated exchanges between the two banks and served as a checkpoint. Its classification in 1969 underscores its heritage importance, linked to the feudal history of the region and its role in local communications.

Beyond its utilitarian function, the bridge is associated with tragic events, such as the raid of 15 April 1944, where resistors and Jews were deported. Today, it remains a symbol of the Correzian heritage, complemented by a modern bridge (2014) and viewpoints offering a view of the nearby hydroelectric dam. Its architecture, combining robustness and elegance, makes it an emblematic work of New Aquitaine.

The base of the missing cross, still visible on the central spur, recalls the religious and symbolic dimension of the bridge. Nearby, the chapel Notre-Dame du Saillant, with its stained glass windows by Marc Chagall (1978-1981), and the castles of Lasteyrie and Mirabeau bear witness to a rich seigneurial past. The bridge, a departmental property, is thus part of a coherent heritage complex, reflecting the historical strata of the Corrèze, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.

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