Albas (Lot)

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Albas
Albàs
Coat of arms of Albas
Albas (France)
Albas
region Occitania
Department Lot
Arrondissement Cahors
Canton Luzech
Community association Vallée du Lot et du Vignoble
Coordinates 44 ° 28 ′  N , 1 ° 14 ′  E Coordinates: 44 ° 28 ′  N , 1 ° 14 ′  E
height 85-332 m
surface 21.84 km 2
Residents 525 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 24 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 46140
INSEE code 46001

Albas - the townscape

Albas ( Occitan : Albàs or Albars ) is a small community with 525 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Lot department in the French region of Occitania .

location

Albas lies on a loop of the Lot River in the heart of the Quercy countryside, which is rich in cultural and culinary attractions . The capital of the Quercy, Cahors , is about 25 kilometers (driving distance) to the east. It is also about five kilometers to the east to the canton capital of Luzech .

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2017
Residents 597 504 522 545 507 545 517 525

In the 19th century, the place consistently had between 1500 and 2000 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the increasing mechanization of agriculture , the population continuously declined to the current lows in the 20th century.

economy

The small community of Albas has lived from agriculture and viticulture for centuries; it belongs to the Cahors wine region . Until the 19th century, a large part of the wines was transported in barrels on tow barges ( gabares ) to Bordeaux and from there to England. Since the 1960s, income from tourism (renting out holiday homes, etc.) has played a not insignificant role in the municipality's economic life.

history

In the High Middle Ages, the place belonged to the manorial rule ( seigneurie ) of the bishops of Cahors , who maintained a summer residence in the place . Several years of famine and even earthquakes are recorded from the 13th and 14th centuries . In the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) the place was conquered by the English. During the Huguenot Wars (1562-1598) and in 1620, the Protestants repeatedly took the place.

Attractions

Château de la Blainie
  • From the Château d'Albas only small remnants remain. The former castle chapel still stood until the end of the 19th century, but it had to give way to a new parish church.
  • The place is dominated by the tower of the neo-Romanesque parish church ( Église Saint-Martin ) completed in 1897 .
  • The privately owned Château de la Blainie is also a 19th century building. It was built by the general manager and army inspector Étienne Pagès on a protruding cliff.
  • Opposite the place on the other side of the river is the Château du Port ; it was built by the banker Adrien Pagès du Port in neoclassical style.

Web links

Commons : Albas  - collection of images, videos and audio files