The commune of Cours de Pile is situated in the south of the Dordogne, in the ‘Périgord Pourpre’, on the left bank of the river, 5km from Bergerac’s sub-prefecture.
The village has a population of 1487* covers 1082 hectares between the banks of the Dordogne River and the first chalky hillsides of the region. It is bordered to the west by the small valley of the Conne.

The Natural Environment

The southern point of the commune reaches an altitude of 100m at ‘La Garenotte’ and the land slopes progressively downwards until reaching merely 30m above sea-level by the banks of the Dordogne River.

Three geographical land types :

- Alluvial Plain
Due to the fertility of the soil this is prime agricultural land.
Large fields planted with cereal crops and, occasionally, tobacco are sometimes divided by hedges and form an open landscape.
To the west of the commune, near Bergerac, the plain also accommodates a built-up area.
To the east, the Château de Pile, surrounded by woods, is a remarkable site whose image has been adopted by the municipality for their logo.
The banks of the river are formed of uneven, twenty-meter high cliffs covered by damp-loving trees ( poplars, alder, ash).
Boats can be moored in two separate places near the hamlet of Migay making the river more easily accessible for fishing here.

- Terrace
The terrace is separated from the alluvial plain by a 10-15m wooded slope at the top of which sits the village itself. Seen from the vantage point of the plain, its topographical position accords both it and the church an imposing air. The 1.5km-wide terrace is planted with crops and the fields are intermittently broken up by hedges.
Cereal crops are predominant although there are some plum orchards and a little animal husbandry. The land has long been under pressure from the construction industry and by the early 1980s local government recognised the need for zoning regulations. Today the line between farming and building land is clearly drawn : to the east of the Coustinet road the land is reserved for agriculture while, to the west, most of the land is served by the general sanitation and drainage network making it ideal for building.

- Hillside
The south-east of the commune is hilly. An island of residential buildings at the hill’s summit, the ‘Garenotte’, enjoy a fantastic view over the Dordogne valley and the opposite hillside, home to the famous Pécharmant vineyards, as well as the vineyards and château of Monbazillac.
The wooded hills, representing about 10% of the commune’s surface area, are mainly covered with oak trees although a fair amount of maritime pine also grows here.
A few fields are given over to farming but the majority of the woods are owned by private individuals and used essentially for hunting, walking and mushroom picking in the autumn.

*(official population on January 1, 2012)