Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault is a commune in the Indre department in central France.
It is a medieval village, perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former province of Berry. Since 1988, it has been a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association.
History
Located in the area of Gaul settled by a powerful Celtic tribe, the Bituriges, "Kings of the World", powerful until their defeat against Julius Caesar at Bourges, part of Roman Aquitania.Two dolmens near to Saint-Benoît-du-Sault attest to the ancientness of human presence, if not of the Bituriges. Ten centuries later, in 974, some benedictine monks of Sacierges-Saint-Martin took refuge on a granite spur, where they founded a priory: Salis, future Saint-Benoît-du-Sault. From the 10th to the 17th century, the history of the priory and the new village is made up of resistance to the possessive desires of feudal neighbours, such as the Limoges and de Brosse family.
The town was surrounded by a double line of ramparts. The first, the most ancient, protected the priory, the church and the fort, the second established in the 15th century, encircled the commercial part.
Its maze of narrow cobbled streets remains popular with sightseers.
Sights
Of architectural significance:- Belfry.
- 14th-century portal.
- 14th-century Roman Priory.
- The medieval city in general.
- Castle of Brosse
Personalities
People associated with Saint-Benoît-du-Sault:- Hervé Faye, astronomer
- François-Timoléon de Choisy, priest and author
- Herbert Southworth, historian