Village of Sémezies-Cachan

About

Sémézies-Cachan is a small village typical of the region that stands out for its stone houses and ancient church, testifying to its rich rural and historical past.

The commune was born from the grouping of two villages, it therefore has two churches, that of Saint Urbain in Sémézies and that of Saint Blaise in Cachan. The Saint Urbain church may have been the chapel of the former feudal castle. Its restoration was completed in 2003. Inside the church, one can see a golden wooden statue of Saint Ruffine, patroness of the potters. She was the subject of veneration by the faithful of the parish and the neighborhood. This statue was once presented to the faithful to heal children with milky crusts, by making the saint touch the linen. The Saint Blaise church is built 500m from the site of an old castle. A chapel existed, the Saint Médard Chapel, a pilgrimage site. It was destroyed during the Revolution. It is said that a miraculous fountain flowed near this chapel.

The commune of Sémézies-Cachan has a spring, named the spring of Baldara. It has never dried up. Buried under bramble, it was rehabilitated in 2020. In 1780, it is said that the level of the pond does not drop and that the owners of the house brought their animals to drink and drew water with jugs weighing more than 4 kilos.

The commune had a feudal castle that stood to the east of the church of Sémézies, in a field still known today as Castet.

M J.Descamps collected this very complete testimony, published in 1975 (detail of the testimony in the docs).
The end of pottery in Sémézies-Cachan is due to a road accident at the beginning of the 20th century. One of the last potters, local, died in an accident while transporting his pottery. This event affected the community and ended the activity of potters. The accident therefore precipitated the disappearance of this craft tradition.

3 ZNEFF have been identified in the municipality: 1 site nature 2000, 1 ZNEFF type 1 and 1 ZNEFF type 2.

The Natura 2000 site “La vallée et les coteaux de la Lauze” covers 5,399 hectares spread over several municipalities. These are hillsides occupied by a bocage mesh more weakly represented in the bottom of alluvial valleys with remarkable orchid environments.

The ZNIEFF “Les coteaux de la Lauze” covers 588 hectares in 5 municipalities. It is one of the most diverse hillsides of the department with dry moors, meadows, crops and woods. The ZNIEFF type 2 “Les coteaux de la Lauze et de l’Arrats” covers 5,264 hectares spread over 18 municipalities.

Spoken languages : French

Location