Borie de Joncas
The place
Traditional dry-stone cabin (caselle or gariotte in local terminology) at 293 m in the Quercy, Causses du Lot sector. A major architectural landmark of Quercy's rural heritage: a corbelled vault built entirely of dry limestone, without mortar, reflecting a craft skill recognised by UNESCO since 2018 ("Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques"). These caselles, generally square or circular in plan with limestone slab roofs, were originally shelters linked to the winegrowing and farming of the limestone plateaus (not to pastoralism — an important distinction from the true "bories" of the Périgord). Exceptional setting of the Causses du Quercy, a cultural landscape listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2017: dry grasslands, downy oak woods, dry-stone walls, Neolithic dolmens, and emblematic wildlife such as the peregrine falcon, the Eurasian eagle-owl and the genet. A heritage stop on the major GR 65 route (Way of St James, Le Puy route).
Getting there
Causses du Quercy (Lot). Heritage stage on the GR 65, Le Puy route to Santiago de Compostela.
The setting
Causses du Quercy (UNESCO Geopark), dry grasslands and downy oak woods, UNESCO know-how recognition 2018.
