“Our Limousin identity, our culture, our treasures”: 30 years later, History and heritage of the Pays des Briances continues its work

Thirty years according to the statutes but an even older field of investigation. Certainly, the History and Heritage of the Pays des Briances association celebrated its thirtieth anniversary at the end of last year, but its research focuses on a much more distant era.

“We can be interested, for example, in the prehistoric period through dolmens,” illustrates Claude Mouret, president of the association, “in Gallo-Roman pieces, then in castles from the Middle Ages, in churches, in natural heritage , to old trades, old traditions, etc. In fact, we look at a little bit of everything. »

“Everything”, as long as it relates to the history and heritage of the communes which formed the former canton of Saint-Germain-les-Belles (Saint-Germain-les-Belles, Château-Chervix, Glanges, Magnac-Bourg , Meuzac, La Porcherie, Saint-Vitte-sur-Briance, Vicq-sur-Breuilh), and also Saint-Jean-Ligoure.

Auspicious moment

“Our primary goal,” continues Claude Mouret, “is to discover the heritage and make it known: we sort of clear the ground and then show it to all those who are interested. Because there is heritage that everyone knows exists, but there is also that which is a little more hidden that we really discover and there is, behind it, on our side, always a communication action. »

This sharing of local discoveries is done through the publication of annual bulletins containing 160 detailed and illustrated pages, but also through the organization of numerous outings aimed at the 140 members and conferences on very different themes: “The resistance fighters of Magnac -Bourg, key men in Georges Guingouin’s maquis”, “birds in our regions and their importance for biodiversity”, “Ana Desbordes, legendary Limousin healer” to name only those from June and July.

“Finally,” concludes Claude Mouret, “we advise on the protection and safeguarding of heritage, and we participate in tourism issues and the development of tourism. »

All these missions are today “essential” to listen to Claude Mouret: “Discovering this heritage ultimately allows us to preserve it and pass it on to future generations. It is our Limousin identity, our culture, our treasures. We attach great importance to the perpetuation of this knowledge. And we think that this is a good time to collect all these testimonies, all these facts from the previous life. »

Restore its splendor to the Saint-Sauveur church in Rochechouart

To know…

Presidents…

End of 1993 to 2001. Albert Sage (honorary president, 102 years old).

2002-2003. Adeline Fumet.

2004-2006. Maurice Carpe (honorary president, 98 years old).

2007-2012. Jean-Claude Parot.

2013-. Claude Mouret.

Next dates

– Saturday June 15 at 5:30 p.m. Magnac-Bourg village hall, conference “The resistance fighters of Magnac-Bourg, key men of Georges Guingouin’s maquis”, by Claude Mouret.

– Friday June 21 at 2 p.m. Saint-Germain-les-Belles, church car park: as part of the JJPM (Country and Mill Heritage Days), discovery of the uses of water. Interventions by Claude Mouret on different sites (wells, wash houses, mills, current and former ponds, etc.), during a car journey from Saint-Germain-les-Belles to Benayes.

– Saturday June 29 at 6 p.m. Château-Chervix village hall, conference “Birds in our regions and their importance for biodiversity”, by Patrick Labidoire and other speaker (Bird Protection League).

– Friday July 19 at 6 p.m. Meuzac village hall, meeting-debate, Ana Desbordes, legendary Limousin healer, by Liliane Fauriac.

Jean-Adrien Truchassou