Meuzac
Encyclopedia
Meuzac is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...

 department in the Limousin
Limousin (région)
Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...

 region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in west-central France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Inhabitants are known as Meuzacois and Meuzacoises.

Geography

The town lies on an ancient granite bedrock (quarries of pink granite, called "Meuzac Stone") dug through the valleys of the Boucheuse and its tributary stream, the Roubardie (Garonne river basin), which respectively feed the two main water bodies of the municipality: Forgeneuve lake and La Roche lake, also called "Lac du Syndicat d'Initiative".

Presence of serpentine outcrops on the moors of Cluzeau and La Flotte (on Meuzac and Chateau-Chervix).

History

Meuzac is the only town in France with that name. There are various spellings in the ancient texts (Melsac XIth, then Mensac). The Latin etymology comes from the name of a man: Meletius.

Presence of pre-historic, roman and gallo-roman remains.

The origin of the town is probably due to the exploitation of gold mines(quartz and gold ore). The few last gold mines still present in the early twentieth century have been abandoned by lack of sustainability, and recent surveys by sampling (1980) have demonstrated the non-viability of this operation under current methods.

The relay of the economic viability of the settlement was mainly due to agricultural and forestry activities: livestock, chestnut and small polyculture for food. There is evidence of the presence of ancient crafts (ironworks, brickworks).

Record the existence of a "Maison Hospitalière".

Places of interest and monuments

The Romanesque church, rebuilt in the seventeenth century, devoted to St. Peter-ad-Vincula, which twelfth-century chancel is presumably the oldest in the Limousin region, has two very original square towers, one over the apse and another on the west portal.

Remains of a priory of the Order of Grandmont (monastic cell) at the village of Le Cluzeau.

The La Roche lake, or Lac du Syndicat d'Initiative, is ranked first category for leisure.

The Forgeneuve lake is a Mecca for waterskiing in France.
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