Its historic centre, with 77 protected monuments, was added to France's Tentative List for future nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.

[8] The excellent state of preservation owed a debt to writer, resistance fighter and politician André Malraux, who, as Minister of Culture (1960–1969), restored the town and many other sites of historic significance throughout France.

[5] The town and region have featured in two major Hollywood films: Ridley Scott's The Duellists (1978), based on Joseph Conrad's Napoleonic tale; and more recently Timeline (2003), adapted from Michael Crichton's time-travel novel, and set in 14th-century France.

In the cemetery of Sarlat one can admire the pyramid tomb of François Fournier-Sarlovèze, who inspired the story behind The Duellists.

Other movies partly shot in Sarlat include: The city also appears in the first instalments of French author Robert Merle's saga Fortune de France, which tells the story of a fictitious Huguenot, Pierre de Siorac, during the 16th and 17th centuries in France.