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| > Coat-of-Arms > Commune description > Origin of name > History > Heritage > Town Hall
Blue, with three silver towers, their stonework picked out in black. This coat-of-arms, still in use today, comes from the Lastours family, founders of the château of Pompadour. |
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 Commune description
Arnac-Pompadour is one of the three founding communes of the Pays de Pompadour Community of Communes. |
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| Origin of name
Arnac was inhabited in Gallo-Roman times by a landowner named Artonacus or Artonos. A rather tenuous link may be made between Pompadour and the Occitan noun pompidor — a landing (Mistral), which certainly fits the local topography. |
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| History
Pompadour belongs to one of the oldest lordships in Limousin: the Lastours. A first fort was built in 1026. Geoffroi Hélie de Pompadour rebuilt a sumptuous castle in the 15th century. After that family died out, the estate, along with the title and coat-of-arms, was transferred in 1745 to Louis XV’s favourite, who became the Marquise de Pompadour. CThe Château and the 333 ha estate (spread across several communes) became a Royal Stud. Re-established by Napoleon after the Revolution, it is currently a National Stud, specialising particularly in developing the Anglo-Arab breed. |
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| Heritage
• The château, (the west wing of the sumptuous 15th century rebuilding), protected within its enclosure, is now the headquarters of the National Stud. • The Stallion Centre, built in the 19th century on the pastures of Puy-Marmont. • The Race Course, built in 1836 at the feet of the château (on land that is part of St-Sornin-Lavolps) is one of the finest in France.
• Arnac parish church 12th/13th century, listed as an Historic Building in 1873, is dedicated to SS Pardoux and Martial, as the monastery was attached to St Martial’s Abbey in Limoges, which built it as a provostry. All that remains of this is the Benedictine church, restored in the 15th and 19th centuries, resting place of the Lastours and the Hélie de Pompadours.
• St Blaise’s chapel known as “below the ditches” - listed picture. • The town forest with mixed varieties of trees. • The Chignac annexe (rearing of young horses). |
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| Town Hall - 19 230 Arnac-Pompadour
Tel: +33 (0)5 55 73 30 43 - Fax: +33 (0)5 55 73 95 29 Opening hours:
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• Norman trefoil choir - single nave with three bays – Early Limousin Gothic doorway, surmounted by three listed 15th-century statues – eight historiated capitals – furnishings: Crucifix, three pictures, reliquaries and statuette of St Martial..