Albas (Lot)
Albas Albàs |
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region | Occitania | |
Department | Lot | |
Arrondissement | Cahors | |
Canton | Luzech | |
Community association | Vallée du Lot et du Vignoble | |
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
- 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
- Churches in the Quercy - Photos ( Memento from December 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )