Saint-Paul-la-Roche | |
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 A general view of Saint-Paul-la-Roche | |
 Location of Saint-Paul-la-Roche | |
  Saint-Paul-la-Roche  Saint-Paul-la-Roche | |
| Coordinates:45°28′43″N0°59′59″E / 45.4786°N 0.9997°E /45.4786; 0.9997 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Dordogne |
| Arrondissement | Nontron |
| Canton | Thiviers |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Didier Garnaudie[1] |
Area 1 | 39.22 km2 (15.14 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 533 |
| • Density | 13.6/km2 (35.2/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 24481 /24800 |
| Elevation | 165–342 m (541–1,122 ft) (avg. 268 m or 879 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Saint-Paul-la-Roche (French pronunciation:[sɛ̃pɔllaʁɔʃ];Limousin:Sent Pau la Ròcha), is acommune in the northeast of theDordognedepartment in theNouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwesternFrance. The commune is integrated into theRegional Natural Parc Périgord Limousin.
The commune's name is derived fromSaint Paul and the hamletLa Roche (the rock) referring to the white quartz rocks (La Roche Blanche) cropping out nearby.
Saint-Paul-la-Roche is situated 9 kilometers northeast ofThiviers and 5 kilometers west-southwest ofJumilhac-le-Grand. It is surrounded by the following communes:
Besides the main village the commune consists of the following hamlets, farms, mills and castles:Artis,Beauplat,Chalamant,Chandeuil,Château de Chalard,Château de Montardy,Château la Val(l)ade,Combier,Curmont,Eleix,Graffanaud,La Brousse,La Bussière,La Chassagne,La Croze,La Fagnade,La Farge,La Genetterie,La Grave,La Jarrige,La Lande de Beauplat,La Lande de la Peyzie,La Lande de Perrières,La Messeillasse,La Messelie,La Morandie,La Mouretie,La Papalie,La Petite Lande,La Petite Pouge,La Peyzie,La Pouille,La Pouyade d'Artis,La Renolphie,La Rivalie,La Roche,La Tuillère,La Val(l)ade,Lascombas,Lavaud,Le Chalard,Le Chalaret,Le Chatenet,Le Chêne Blanc,Le Goinaud,Le Grand Bois,Le Marguillier,Le Minaret,Le Moulin de la Brousse,Le Moulin de la Peyzie,Le Moulin du Breuilh,Le Petit Clos,(Le) Pierrefiche,Le Rieu Mort,Le Rouchoux de la Forêt,Les Pradelles de Chalamant,Les Pradelles de Lintignac,Lintignac,Paradinas,Poirier Bernard,Poirier Vachat,Pont-Fermier andVialotte.
The southwest-flowing riverIsle forms the southeastern boundary of the commune with Sarrazac and Jumilhac-le-Grand. The commune is drained in a southerly direction by the small riverRochille. Just before reaching the southern border the Rochille merges with theValouse as its major left-hand tributary. The Valouse traverses the western side of the commune's territory (following a south-southwesterly direction) and represents for several kilometers the boundary with Chalais. After its confluence with the Rochille it ends shortly after as a right-hand tributary to the Isle. Immediately after having touched the commune's perimeter in the southeast the Isle receives four small right-hand tributaries, whose valleys are oriented south-southeast. TheRuisseau de Curmont is also a small right-hand tributary to the Isle; yet its course runs west-east and defines the boundary to Nantheuil in the south. This small stream is paralleled farther north by theRuisseau de la Val(lade) merging with the Valouse as a right-hand tributary.
The topographically lowest point within the commune at an altitude of 178 meters is found at the confluence of theRuisseau de Curmont with the Isle; at this point the Isle leaves the commune's territory and continues southwest. The highest point with 342 meters above sea level is close to the hamletLa Lande des Perrières northeast of the village center.
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Saint-Paul-la-Roche is living up to its name by offering a very diverse and rather complicatedgeology. The commune is situated entirely on themetamorphicbasement rocks of the northwestern Massif Central. Structurally these rocks belong to three differentthrust sheets, theLower Gneiss Nappe, theUpper Gneiss Nappe and at the southwest corner theThiviers-Payzac Unit. The Lower Gneiss Nappe mainly comprisesmicaschists associated with micaceousparagneisses, paragneisses and medium-grainedleptynites, the Upper Gneiss Nappe is mainly composed of paragneisses enclosing some leptynites. The medium-grained leptynites within the Lower Gneiss Nappe form an arc-shaped structure, the so-calledSaint-Yrieix arc. The micaschists are derived fromargilites, the paragneisses most probably fromNeoproterozoicgreywackes and the micaceous paragneisses from moreclay-rich greywackes. The leptynites have agranitic composition and either represent granites orrhyolites; they are ofOrdovician age, thus very much younger than the enclosing country rocks.
The Thiviers-Payzac Unit to the southwest consists of thePayzac Quartzite, a less metamorphosed equivalent of therhyodaciticThiviers Sandstone. The steeply dipping, ESE-striking rocks of the Thiviers-Payzac Unit upthrust obliquely over the Upper Gneiss Unit with a right-lateral shearing component. The Upper Gneiss Unit strikes southwest-northeast and in turn overrides The Lower Gneiss Unit to the northwest, also showing a SW-NE strike.
Enclosed within the micaschists are basic and ultrabasic rocks of theRoche Noire Massif (near the hamletLa Valade), mainlymetagabbros andperidotites. These are some of the very few remnants ofoceanic crust left behind from a now subducted ocean. The Massif also exhibits several tectonic lenses of serpentinisedperidotites,amphibolites and a biggerserpentinite body. Within the micaschists and the micaceous paragneisses there are streaks ofgarnet-bearing amphibolites, which in some places also invade the paragneisses.Epidote-bearing amphibolites occur as well, they are found in micaceous paragneisses near the cemetery, in leptynites nearLintignac and in the Payzac Quartzite nearCurmont. Even some smalleclogite outcrops do exist, for instance three nearGraffanaud along the Valouse and one nearCombier at the Isle. There are also some small bands ofdaciticmetatuffs enclosed within the paragneisses, the micaceous paragneisses and in the Payzac Quartzite.
An oddity is the massivequartz outcrop nearLa Roche which has been completely quarried by now. This very pure, milky exsudation quartz was once sought after byNASA for optical devices (lenses etc.). Under magnification one can observe many parallel shear planes of tectonic origin. The quarry once contained single quartz crystals in the decimeter and meter range.
The metamorphic conditions of the country rocks reached medium and high grade. The Payzac Quartzite has crossed thestauroliteisograd, the Upper Gneiss Unit belongs mainly to the staurolite zone and parts of the Lower Gneiss Unit even have reached thekyanite isograd (near the village center and in the north).
The country rocks are traversed by three major north-south-strikingfaults (north ofChalamant, in the village center and nearLe Rouchou de la Forêt), which offset the stratigraphy. The faults atChalamant andLe Rouchou de la Forêt arebrecciated andcataclastic. The latter is a major fault, it even cuts off tectonic units (like the oceanicSarrazac Massif from the Upper Gneiss Unit); it can be traced to Sarrazac in the south, in the north it splays out.
Some of the higher ridges are mantled byTertiaryalterites, which consist mainly ofPliocene fluvial gravels (tongues nearLa Lande de Beauplat,La Lande de Perrières,La Petite Lande andLe Pierrefiche) andcolluvium. The colluvium underlies the gravel tongues and probably dates back to theEocene, but was later reworked during thePleistocene (ice ages).
TheChâteau de Chalard is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. Most of it was destroyed during theHundred Years War. TheRomanesque village church of Saint-Paul-la-Roche dates back to the 12th century. TheChâteau de Montardy was built during the 15th century on a site occupied before by aKnights Templar stronghold.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 872 | — |
| 1968 | 794 | −8.9% |
| 1975 | 616 | −22.4% |
| 1982 | 591 | −4.1% |
| 1990 | 555 | −6.1% |
| 1999 | 551 | −0.7% |
| 2008 | 517 | −6.2% |
Close to the western boundary of the commune passes the major trunk road N 21 fromLimoges toPérigueux. It is paralleled by therailway line Limoges – Thiviers. The southeastern and southern border is followed by the D 78 from Jumilhac-le-Grand to Thiviers. The D 67 comes from La Coquille, crosses the village center and continues to Sarrazac in the SSE. Several communal roads (C roads) join the village center with its many hamlets.
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