Aubeterre sur Dronne

Rather touristy, but very beautiful with its ancient galleried and turreted houses, Aubeterre sur Dronne hangs on a steep hillside above the river, some 30km downstream of Ribérac. Its principal curiosity is the cavernous Église Monolithe (daily: July to Oct 9.30am–12.30pm & 2–7pm; Nov–June 9.30am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; €3.50), carved out of the soft rock of the cliff face in the twelfth century, with its rock-hewn tombs going back to the sixth. A (blocked-off) tunnel connects with the Château on the bluff overhead. There's also the extremely beautiful church of St-Jacques, with an eleventh-century facade sculpted and decorated in the richly carved Poitiers style on the street leading uphill from the square.

The tourist office is on the main square (July & Aug Mon 2.30–7pm, Tues–Sun 10am–7pm; Sept Mon 2.30–6pm, Tues–Sun 10am–6pm; Oct–June daily 2–6pm; tel 05.45.98.57.18).

Aubeterre is the site of a monolithic church. Its main nave is more than 20m high.