PERIGUEUX

town, dpartement of Dordogne, Aquitaine region, southwestern France. An episcopal see, it lies on the right bank of the Isle River, east-northeast of Bordeaux and southwest of Paris. Originally settled by a Gaulish tribe, the Petrocorii, the town fell to the Romans, who called it Vesuna after a local spring, the Vsone, that became their tutelary deity. The modern town developed from two nuclei, the Cit and Puy-Saint-Front, which vied with one another until they united in 1251. The Cit, in the southwestern part of the town, occupies the site of Vesuna, subsequently reduced by the barbarians to a small encampment, called the Civitas Petrocorium, from which the names Cit and Prigueux are derived. Puy-Saint-Front, on the east, grew between the 5th and 13th centuries around an abbey sanctuary containing the body of St. Front, the Apostle of Prigord, and the first bishop of Prigueux. The contemporary city spreads west and northwest of Puy-Saint-Front. Prigueux struggled against the English throughout the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and suffered severely under Protestant occupation (1575-81) during the 16th-century Wars of Religion. Given amnesty by Louis XIV in 1654 for its part in the Fronde (a series of civil disturbances, 1648-53), the town then experienced an era of peace. At the time of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, it continued as the capital of a dpartement, covering the same area as the medieval province of Prigord Blanc. From the July Monarchy (1830) onward many improvements were made, and the town received new impetus under the Second Empire (1852-70) and the Third Republic (1870-1940). A chief point of cultural interest is the cathedral of Saint-Front, built in the 12th century on the ruins of the abbey, which burned in 1120. One of the largest in southwestern France, it is built in the shape of a Greek cross, topped by five lofty domes and numerous colonnaded turrets. A Romanesque bell tower and cloisters of the 12th, 13th, and 16th centuries adjoin it on the south. Successive restorations, the last ending in 1901, have altered its original character. The Prigord Museum displays prehistoric and archaeological artifacts of the area, as well as secular and religious art. In the Cit is the 12th-century Church of Saint-tienne, which was the cathedral until 1669. Evidences of ancient Roman occupation are an arena of the 3rd century AD, a boundary wall of the Roman civitas on which is built the Chteau Barrire (12th-15th century), and the Vsone Tower. Now one of the most attractive towns in southwestern France, Prigueux is a road and rail junction with connections northeast to Limoges and southwest to Bordeaux. Internationally known for its pt de foie gras, truffles, and wine, Prigueux is also an important hog market. The town's industries include canneries and plants producing hardware, cutlery, chemicals, textiles, and leather goods. Pop. (1990) 32,848.