La Courtine: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

La Courtine is part of the Parc Naturel Régional de Millevaches en Limousin.

Anyone travelling to La Courtine may wish to rent a holiday apartment.

History

The Maison du Souvenir traces the history of La Courtine. Visits are organised by prior appointment; admission is free and photography is permitted.

The Notre-Dame de La Courtine church was built from 1742 onwards using the portico and stones from the former church, as well as the ruins of the castle. It contains two chapels: one houses a statue of the Virgin Mary, while the other is dedicated to Saint John.

The Chapelle Saint Denis was restored in 1744. After the roof collapsed in 1954, only its square-built bell tower was retained for safety reasons. Once a year, an open-air mass is celebrated there on the Sunday in October closest to the feast of Saint Denis.

The La Courtine military camp was established in 1901 as part of the modernisation of the French army following the defeat of 1870. The ruins of the Saint-Gilles church at Le Trucq are currently in very poor condition.

The Chemin de mémoire is a historical, interpretive walking trail about the history of La Courtine in 1917. Steel silhouettes mark the way; QR codes provide smartphone access to eyewitness accounts, texts from the period and soundscapes.

Nature

The Étang du Grattadour is classified as a ZNIEFF and is bordered by a quaking bog that is of great importance to flora and fauna. Small pools known as gouilles are home to bladderworts, carnivorous aquatic plants.

Trails

The Chamina trail follows a 25 km route around the Forêt de Châteauvert and Les Agriers. The Saint-Denis route passes the hundred-year-old beech tree that shelters the Mariette Cross, descends to the village of St-Denis and its old church, and ends by circling the Étang du Grattadour.

The 5-hectare Étang du Grattadour can be circled along a 1.3 km path. It is possible to fish for trout, tench, carp and pike there. At the 2-hectare Étang de La Peyrouse, it is possible to fish for trout, tench, roach and carp.

Other places: Clugnat, Évaux-Les-Bains, Saint-Agnant-Près-Crocq, Châtelard, Flayat, Ajain, Mérinchal, Aubusson.

More about the region: Creuse.