A small commune in the southern Monts de Châlus where chainmail was once forged. Now it's the lake and forests of the Parc Naturel Régional Périgord-Limousin on the Dordogne border that are centre stage as back-to-nature tourism booms.

First Impressions

Every now and then you'll chance upon the kind of place that whoever coined the expression la France profonde must have had in mind. The Parc Naturel Régional Périgord-Limousin is such a place, and set among its fragile, protected landscapes is the commune of Saint-Mathieu.

The town's oldest surviving structure is the Église Saint-Mathieu, built in Romanesque style during the 12th century and enlarged around 1486 by the Vigier family. Their coat of arms still adorns the flamboyant Gothic portal added to the western façade, below an early example of a wheel window — ancestor of the lighter, more complex rose window. Unlike the surrounding buildings, the façade was constructed in precisely cut granite blocks, with massive buttresses to support the striking octagonal clocher poised above.

Today all trace of the Vigier family's 14th-century fortified château, which once stood behind the church, has vanished, having been largely dismantled after the Révolution. A single tower was somehow spared until 1927, when it too was demolished.

An Industrial Past

There's conspicuous elegance in much of the surrounding architecture, whose scale and proportions suggest that Saint-Mathieu must once have been a town of prosperity and influence. Sure enough, with extensive chestnut forests for charcoal and significant iron ore deposits virtually on its doorstep, the town was well-placed to supply a steady demand for the chainmail adopted by military forces during the early middle ages. The downside was that for centuries rural communities endured smoke and fumes from blast furnaces, and the heavy metallic clang of drop hammers powered, like the giant forge bellows, by waterwheels sited on the banks of rivers such as the Tardoire.

When demand eventually declined, and coal from elsewhere provided a more efficient fuel than charcoal, the local mills responded by producing other forged items. They survived until the late 1930s, as did annual September markets selling locally produced haricot-blanc beans, known as mongetas, to traders from Charente and Dordogne.

Local Life

In recent years the local economy has benefited from the upsurge in back-to-nature tourism. Popular with families and walkers is the 14-hectare Lac de Saint-Mathieu, set among 22 hectares of landscaped parkland east of the town, with water sports, gîtes, a campsite, a restaurant, and 130km of marked footpaths. The lac complex is managed by the commune.

In the opposite direction, the 15th/16th-century Château Rocher (set in a five-hectare park with two étangs (lakes) and its own orangerie) offers chambres d'hôtes, a gîte for up to 12, and a fairy tale setting for weddings and events.

The Pont du Moulin du Pont on the Tardoire, a listed historic monument, sits partially within the commune - its arched stonework a reminder of the watermill economy that shaped this valley for half a millennium.

At a Glance

Explore Nearby

• Rochechouart (17 km) — medieval château housing a museum of contemporary art
• Saint-Junien (28 km) — known for glove-making and a fine Romanesque collegiate church
• Oradour-sur-Glane (c. 30 km) — the preserved village and memorial
• Limoges (51 km) — porcelain capital, cathedral, covered market, TGV connections
• Brantôme (c. 65 km) — on an island in the Dronne, with a Benedictine abbey