Sarlat: The Medieval Town, Jean Nouvel's Lift and the Saturday Market
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Sarlat: The Medieval Town, Jean Nouvel's Lift and the Saturday Market
225 + 100 XP
Sarlat-la-Canéda keeps its medieval town intact — the source calls it one of the densest medieval urban ensembles in the world, and in 1964 it became the first town in France to be given a protected sector under the Malraux law, with 65 protected buildings in it. Jean Nouvel, who spent his youth here, turned the church of Sainte-Marie, deconsecrated in 1794, into a covered market, and since 2012 a glass lift has run up its bell tower for a view over the whole town. Behind the cathedral stands a 12th-century lantern of the dead, and Étienne de La Boétie, Montaigne's friend, was born in the town in 1530. The Saturday market on the Place de la Liberté sells the region's foie gras, truffles, figs and walnuts.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Ride the glass lift up the bell tower of Sainte-Marie and, from the top, trace the edge of the protected sector created here in 1964 — the first anywhere in France under the Malraux law, with 65 protected buildings inside it — then pick out the lauze stone roofs that the law is the reason you are still looking at
2
of 4
In the old graveyard behind the cathedral, find the conical lantern of the dead and then the three other survivals of the Romanesque abbey rebuilt between 1125 and 1160 — the porch tower, the chapel of Saint-Benoît and the chapter-house front in the cloister yard — and work out why the burials were moved out in 1819: the graves sat directly over the spring that fed the canons' fountain
3
of 4
Find the Maison de La Boétie, the 16th-century house that carries the name of the writer born in Sarlat in 1530, and compare its pilastered Renaissance front with the Hôtel de Gérard and the Hôtel Plamon a few doors away — then go on to the manoir de Gisson on the place des Oies, open as a museum since 2011, for the inside of a 17th-century Sarlat merchant's house
4
of 4
Work the Saturday market on the Place de la Liberté for all four of the things the town is known for — foie gras, truffles, figs and walnuts — and buy one of each from a producer rather than a reseller, then stand at the top of the square where the view opens straight onto the cathedral and the bishops' palace
Ride the glass lift up the bell tower of Sainte-Marie and, from the top, trace the edge of the protected sector created here in 1964 — the first anywhere in France under the Malraux law, with 65 protected buildings inside it — then pick out the lauze stone roofs that the law is the reason you are still looking at
In the old graveyard behind the cathedral, find the conical lantern of the dead and then the three other survivals of the Romanesque abbey rebuilt between 1125 and 1160 — the porch tower, the chapel of Saint-Benoît and the chapter-house front in the cloister yard — and work out why the burials were moved out in 1819: the graves sat directly over the spring that fed the canons' fountain
Find the Maison de La Boétie, the 16th-century house that carries the name of the writer born in Sarlat in 1530, and compare its pilastered Renaissance front with the Hôtel de Gérard and the Hôtel Plamon a few doors away — then go on to the manoir de Gisson on the place des Oies, open as a museum since 2011, for the inside of a 17th-century Sarlat merchant's house
Work the Saturday market on the Place de la Liberté for all four of the things the town is known for — foie gras, truffles, figs and walnuts — and buy one of each from a producer rather than a reseller, then stand at the top of the square where the view opens straight onto the cathedral and the bishops' palace
Before you go
Sarlat's truffle markets run from mid-November to the end of February, and the Fête de la Truffe is held in mid-January.
Between All Saints and Easter the lift in the bell tower only runs on Saturdays, in the school holidays and for the odd event, 11am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 5pm — which fits this challenge rather well, because the market on the Place de la Liberté is a Saturday too, so make a winter visit a Saturday and you get both. The mairie currently gives « Réouverture : Avril 2026 », so check sarlat.fr before relying on the lift out of season. The truffle markets run from mid-November to the end of February and the Fête de la Truffe is in mid-January; the lantern of the dead and La Boétie's house are in the street and need nothing.
The panoramic lift in the bell tower runs from April to December and only opens occasionally in winter, so do not plan a January visit round it. The Saturday market fills the whole centre and the town is pedestrianised — park in the signed car parks on the ring and walk in, since nothing long gets through the old streets. The truffle market is a separate, smaller affair held on set winter mornings; ask at the tourist office for the dates rather than turning up on a Saturday and expecting truffles.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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