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Montvalent - a history
In the valley of the river Dordogne is the site of the abandoned village of Brassac, and the ruins of an ancient priory established to provide shelter and care for those crossing the river nearby on the pilgrimage to Rocamadour. The earliest recorded mention of Brassac is in 1054. At the end of the 12th century, Brassac was sold to the viscount of Turenne who constructed the new fortress of Montvalent on the top of the rocky bluff overlooking the river Dordogne. The story of Montvalent's history is of its importance as a river crossing, of its place on the route of the pilgrimage to Rocamadour which was at its height in the 14th century, and of its part in the Hundred Years War when for several years it was held as a major English-Gascon garrison from which to raid the surrounding countryside.
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Villages of Haut Quercy