[occ] Senta Orsa
Old, beautiful houses are grouped around two squares that are the real centre of village life: the Town Hall and the Church. The imposing 12th century Romanesque church, with its Merovingian sarcophagi and medieval crypt, is a listed Historical Monument.
Two castles, built on two rocky peaks, face each other: the most important, the castle of Sainte Orse, overlooks the Soue valley, and La Salle, renovated as a manor house in the 18th century.
From the hollow of the valley where the Soue river meanders, you will have a magnificent view of these castles. The old wash-house, another essential vestige of rural life, evokes the bustle of life that existed there not so long ago. In the surrounding tree-covered hillsides nestle numerous hamlets that contain beautiful old country houses full of architectural character from the 17th and 18th centuries, lovingly renovated and preserved from the ravages of inappropriate modernisation.
Along the shady little lanes you can discover small interesting hamlets:
- La Faye, the castle of Elisabeth Jouffre De La Faye, wife of Marshal Bugeaud.
- Peyrebrune is home to the memory of Georges De Peyrebrune, a feminist writer who had her hour of glory in the 19th century.
- Numerous examples of a rich patrimony: wash houses, crosses, dovecotes, stone huts, bread ovens, farriers stocks...
If you have a keen love of history, you may be interested to know that Saint Orse has been continuously occupied since prehistoric times and that there are still traces of those remote times:
- There are stones presupposing rituals, probably dating back to the Celts of the first Iron Age; the best known example is in Peyrebrune.
- There are stones presupposing rituals, probably dating back to the Celts of the first Iron Age; the best known example is in Peyrebrune.
- Some Cromlech and Menhir can be found in Saint Orse.
Historical documents are available at the town hall.
Finally, hiking enthusiasts will be able to indulge their passion: many rural paths are accessible.
TO see, to do...
Mairie de Sainte Orse
Tél : +33 5 53 05 24 06
mairie-sainte-orse@wanadoo.fr