Saint-Sylvestre: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Almost 75% of the municipality of Saint-Sylvestre is covered by forest. The Réserve naturelle des Sauvages has been classified since 20 November 2015, covers around 83 hectares and is a nature reserve for wild flora and fauna. It includes two ponds created by the monks of Grandmont.

Anyone wishing to rent a holiday apartment in Saint-Sylvestre is specifically looking for this destination.

Nature

Paths lead from the Réserve naturelle des Sauvages to the Tourbière des Dauges and the Chapelle Saint Psalmet.

History and village character

The parish church of Saint-Sylvestre was built in the 13th century, extended in the 15th century and completed in the 17th century with a bell tower and sacristy. It houses the reliquary bust of Saint Étienne de Muret, which is displayed in a niche on a church pillar in the centre of the village. It is made of repoussé, chased, openwork, cut-out and gilded silver, as well as carved, silver-plated wood.

The renovated old houses in the villages of Saint-Sylvestre are made of granite and are a reminder that many of the inhabitants’ ancestors worked as quarrymen and stonemasons on the construction of numerous buildings in Limoges.

Grandmont is a village in the municipality of Saint-Sylvestre, at the foot of the 702-metre-high Puy de Sauvagnac. For seven centuries, Grandmont was the centre of an important religious order and a significant abbey, which has now been completely demolished. Tours of the Grandmont site are organised throughout the year on request.

Paths and hikes

The Chemin des Moines begins in Grandmont, the historic site of the former abbey, and connects four ponds created by the monks several centuries ago: the two ponds of Les Sauvages, the Étang de l’Âne and the Étang de Malessart. The route is 19.5 km long, classified as difficult and described as taking five hours.

The Chemin des Carriers starts in Saint-Sylvestre and is a 9.2 km hike accessible to everyone. It leads along forest paths, through typical villages and past old washhouses. It includes an educational trail through granite quarries, with information panels about the work of the quarrymen who shaped the region’s history. Remains of granite extraction, including rails and historic mine carts, have been preserved along this educational trail.

Most of the route of the Gendarmes et Voleurs de Temps race, which starts in Ambazac, runs through the municipality of Saint-Sylvestre.

Other places: Royères, Pierrefitte, Le Chalard, Marval, Nouic, Saint-Sornin-La-Marche, Rancon, Bujaleuf

To the higher-level travel overview: Haute-Vienne.