Located in the green Périgord, Saint-Saud-Lacoussiere is traversed by multiple rivers, picturesque and full of fish, the most important of which is the Dronne. A wild river, the Dronne has contributed to the economic development of the town: forge mills but also abbey have been established during its history. The Cistercian Abbey of Peyrouse, now extinct, was founded in 1153 by Saint Bernard. Established in the Middle Ages, this abbey occupies the narrow and steep-sided valley of the Palem stream,
Why build an abbey on the edge of a stream?
Rene Lalisou explains to us that the rule for establishing a Cistercian abbey was the presence of a sylvan desert, close to a source because the Cistercian monks were in charge of clearing the forest to put it in cultivation. Moreover on this territory, the monks found two sources of which one bears the name of fountain of Saint Jacques which would have made it possible to cure chilblains.
? Listen to René Lalisou tell you about his childhood memories around this fountain
– Marie-Dominique PRIVE
Peyrouse Abbey was relatively wealthy, although it did not have very many monks, a maximum of 40. At the Revolution, only four monks remained. This abbey was sold as national property in 1793, resold in 1822 and after a fire which took place in 1892, it served as a quarry for all the surrounding villages.