View source for Vézère

{{Expand French|Vézère|date=April 2018|topic=geo}}
{{Infobox river
  | name              = Vézère
  | image             = Vézère vieux pont.jpg
  | image_caption     = Le Saillant, bridge over the river Vézère
  | map               = Vézère.png
  | source1_location  = [[Plateau de Millevaches]] 
  | mouth_location    = [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne]]
  | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|44|52|53|N|0|53|26|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
  | progression       = {{RDordogne}}
  | subdivision_type1 = Country
  | subdivision_name1 = France
  | length            = {{convert|211|km|abbr=on}}
  | source1_elevation = {{convert|970|m|abbr=on}}
  | discharge1_avg    = {{convert|50|m3/s|abbr=on}}
  | basin_size        = {{convert|3,708|km2|abbr=on}}
}}
[[File:Vezere01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bridge over the river Vézère in the village of [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]]]]
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS           = Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley
| image         = Vezere madelaine.JPG
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption       = Vézère at [[Abri de la Madeleine|La Madeleine]] site
| includes      = {{flatlist|
#[[Cro-Magnon rock shelter|Abri de Cro-Magnon]]
#{{ill|Abri du Poisson|fr}}
#[[Font de Gaume]]
#[[La Micoque]]
#{{ill|La Mouthe|fr|Grotte de la Mouthe}}
#[[Laugerie basse]]
#{{ill|Laugerie haute|fr|Laugerie-Haute}}
#{{ill|Le Grand Roc|fr|Grotte du Grand Roc}}
#[[Les Combarelles]]
#[[Le Cap Blanc]]
#[[Lascaux]]
#[[Cro de Granville]] (cro de [[Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac|Rouffignac]])
#{{ill|Roc de Saint-Cirq|fr|Grotte de Saint-Cirq}}
#[[Le Moustier]]
#[[Abri de la Madeleine|La Madeleine]]
}}
| criteria      = {{UNESCO WHS type|(i)(iii)}}(i)(iii)
| ID            = 85
| year          = 1979
| area          = <!-- {{convert|...|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}} or similar with other units recommended -->
| buffer_zone   = 
| website       = 
| embedded      = 
}}
The '''Vézère''' ({{IPA|fr|vezɛʁ}}; {{langx|oc|Vesera}}) is a 211-km-long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to the [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne]].<ref name=sandre>{{sandre|id=P---0100|nom=La Vézère}}</ref> Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the [[Massif Central]]. It flows into the Dordogne from the right near [[Le Bugue]]. The river [[Corrèze (river)|Corrèze]] is a tributary of the Vézère.

The Vézère Valley is famed for its prehistoric cave systems, containing numerous cave paintings and hominid remains. [[UNESCO]] collectively designated these a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1979. Among the sites with remarkable caves is [[Lascaux]].

==Geography==
The Vézère takes its source in the bog of Longéroux, on the plateau of Millevaches, in the Massif Central in Corrèze, at 887 meters above sea level, in the commune of Meymac, west of the ''Puy Pendu'' (973 m) in the forest of Longéroux, at the place called ''sources de la Vézère''. It flows into the Dordogne on the right bank at [[Limeuil]], at an altitude of 50 metres. Its main tributary is the Corrèze; their confluence is located in the western suburbs of Brive-la-Gaillarde. Other tributaries are the [[Loyre]], the [[Bradascou]] and the [[Brézou]]. The length of the Vézère is 211.2&nbsp;km.<ref name=sandre/>
===Departments and main communes crossed===
It flows southwest through the following [[Departments of France|department]]s and  cities:
* In [[Corrèze]]: [[Pérols-sur-Vézère]], [[Bugeat]], [[Uzerche]], [[Vigeois]], [[Brive-la-Gaillarde]]
* In [[Dordogne]]: [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]], [[Terrasson-Lavilledieu]], [[Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil]], [[Le Bugue]]

===Facilities===
The Vézère to Uzerche.
In its upstream part, the Vézère has three major dams: the dam of ''Monceaux la Virolle'' (or ''de Monceaux la Virole''), the barrage at [[Treignac]], located between 500 and 650 meters above sea level, and the dam at Saillant, a little lower.

==Hydronymy==
The river Visera is attested in [[Carolingian]] monastic medieval manuscripts in 889. It should not be confused in the Dordogne with the Upper Vézère, or Auvézère, a tributary of the ''L'Isle'', 10 kilometers east of [[Périgueux]].

The name Vézère comes, according to some scholars, from the ancient hydronym Vizara or Izara, formed by two contiguous Ligurian roots. The first, ''viz'' or ''iz'', and the second ''ara''. ''Viz'' or ''Iz'' means a "hollow Valley", and ''ara'' means a "watercourse", the word ''Vézère'' means "streams in the hollow valley".

It could also be a [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] word ''Isara'', meaning a "fast and impetuous flow (in case of flood)" to indicate to the travellers the dangers of a river during periods of intense rains or snow melt. The simple Latin variation is ''visara'' in the Gallo-Roman world which explains the logical phonetic evolution into [[Old French]] and Occitan.

==Prehistoric sites and decorated caves in the Vézère valley==
{{main article|Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley}}
The Vézère valley was dubbed the "Valley of Mankind" from the end of the nineteenth century following the numerous discoveries of exceptional prehistoric sites, including the Abri de Crô-Magnon, a rock shelter, the cave of [[Font-de-Gaume]], and the [[Les Combarelles|Combarelles caves]] in Les Eyzies. It also the location of the Lascaux cave in Montignac. The prehistoric and ornate caves of the Vézère Valley are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Vézère}}
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/85 World Heritage profile]

{{World Heritage Sites in France}}
{{Navbox prehistoric caves}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vezere}}
[[Category:Rivers of France]]
[[Category:Rivers of Corrèze]]
[[Category:Rivers of Dordogne]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in France]]
[[Category:Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine]]
[[Category:Nouvelle-Aquitaine region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia]]