Fromental: Church, Château and Archaeology

Fromental invites visitors to explore its architectural and archaeological history. The Église Saint-Martin, the Château de Montautre, the Menhir des Fichades and the Dolmen de Pierre Levée represent different kinds of heritage: a rebuilt church with painted features, a château in the Limousin landscape and two prehistoric sites. This makes it possible to plan a stay around themes ranging from architectural history to different archaeological periods.

Church: rebuilding and preserved features

The Église Saint-Martin de Fromental was completely rebuilt at the end of the 18th century. It preserves painted features from the late 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the preserved features therefore date from the same period as the rebuilding, while others are from the 19th century. Since a decree dated 13 February 2017, the church as a whole has been listed as a historic monument. The complete rebuilding of the building and its subsequent listing are two distinct milestones in its history: one describes a structural change, while the other refers to the protected status of the entire building.

Château de Montautre and the landscape

The Château de Montautre is a visitor attraction at 1 Montautre, 87250 Fromental. It overlooks the landscapes of the Limousin. Here, alongside the archaeologically dated sites, the château itself is the focus, with a connection to the landscape that extends beyond the individual building. The address provides a specific reference point for this visitor attraction in Fromental.

Menhir and dolmen: different archaeological evidence

The Menhir des Fichades is an archaeological site in Bagnol. The stone rises 3.55 m above the ground and has been classified as a historic monument since 1945. The archaeological evidence also includes the surrounding areas: around 3,000 pieces of lithic industry, or worked stone, were found there. They attest to human presence in the Late Neolithic, between 2900 and 2150 BC. The number of finds refers to the surrounding area, not to the menhir alone. This distinguishes two features: the height of the individual stone and the finds from the areas around it.

The Dolmen de Pierre Levée offers a different perspective on the past. It is dated to between 3788 and 3389 BC. Objects from the Late Neolithic, the Gallo-Roman period and the medieval period were found in its chamber. The dolmen’s date and the periods represented by the chamber finds are two different pieces of information; the find periods do not constitute a continuous dating of the structure. The dolmen is not accessible to people with reduced mobility; check the specific conditions on site before visiting.

In a direct comparison, the menhir is notable for its height and the finds in its surrounding area, while the dolmen is notable for its date and the objects from several periods. The questions raised by the two sites therefore differ too: one concerns a single upright stone and its find context, the other a dated dolmen and the finds in its chamber.

Getting there

Fromental SNCF railway station is 1.5 km in a straight line from the Château de Montautre. This is the straight-line distance between the station and the château, not a specific route distance. Check the route and train connections separately when planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Limoges, Thiat, Saint-Yrieix-La-Perche, Nieul, Thouron, Saint-Bonnet-De-Bellac, Cussac, Lussac-Les-Églises.

See the regional travel guide: Haute-Vienne.