Le tramway à Sarlat 
La percée de la rue de la République ("la Traverse") Sarlat, from 17th century to present
Sarlat was a prosperous town throughout the XVI, XVII and XVIII, but after that, too far removed from the main stream, like the sleeping beauty, it fell into lethargy for nearly 150 years, to wake up again only some thirty years ago when road transport supplanted river and railroad as means of communication.
It is likely that many other towns in France possessed as many curious and picturesque cobbled streets and as many handsome buildings, but modernisation gradually destroyed these treasures of the past. We can rejoice that our city was miraculously saved thanks to a law promulgated on the 4th of August 1962 (loi Malraux) by which the old town received sufficient financial aid to undertake a programme of restoration.
The old facades are now as they were under their magnificent stone roofs and the old quarters have been rescued from their lethargy by a lively and lived-in town. Our architectural treasures are here for your admiration just as the centuries have handed them down to us.
Today we are proud to invite you to discover a town of serene beauty that you will not forget, where you may wish to return, or even settle.
