Cahors
|
Cahors Caors |
||
|---|---|---|
.svg)
|
|
|
| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Lot ( prefecture ) | |
| Arrondissement | Cahors | |
| Canton |
Cahors-1 (main town) Cahors-2 (main town) Cahors-3 (main town) |
|
| Community association | Grand Cahors | |
| Coordinates | 44 ° 27 ' N , 1 ° 26' E | |
| height | 105-332 m | |
| surface | 64.72 km 2 | |
| Residents | 19,878 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 307 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 46000 | |
| INSEE code | 46042 | |
| Website | City of Cahors | |
 Pont Valentré on the Lot |
||
Cahors is a French city ( Occitan Caors ) in the Occitanie region . The city is the seat of the administration of the Lot department . The city with 19,878 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is also the capital of the arrondissement of the same name and the cantons of Cahors-1 , Cahors-2 and Cahors-3 . Its inhabitants call themselves Cadurciens. Cahors is primarily important as the administrative capital and is known for the wine-growing region of the same name . The city is located on the GR 65 long-distance hiking trail , which largely follows the historical course of the French Way of St. James, Via Podiensis . The twin city is Bologna .
Geography and traffic
The city is located on the southwestern edge of the Massif Central on a peninsula formed by a loop of the Lot . The loop is enforced by the western edge of the Cevennes , on whose steep slopes viticulture is practiced. This location has significantly shaped the development of the city. It formed an easily defendable point on the ancient road to Rodez and Toulouse . The closest French cities are Toulouse ( 94 km ) in the south, Bordeaux ( 167 km ) in the north-west and Montpellier ( 216 km ) in the south-east.
Cahors has a small airfield ( Aérodrome de Cahors Lalbenque ) about 10 kilometers south. The nearest commercial airport is Agen-La Garenne , which can be reached in a south-westerly direction via the D656 after around 90 kilometers by road. The company Airlinair offers daily flights to Paris-Orly to. The closest international airport is Toulouse Blagnac International Airport . The Cahors SNCF train station is on the Aubrais - Montauban line and is part of the Paris- Toulouse long-distance route. It is also the terminus of the regional route to Monsempron-Libos . The now closed route to Capdenac is now served by buses. Cahors is connected to the French trunk road network via the A20 Paris – Toulouse.
history
The origins of the city go back to the Celtic times. It owes its name to the Kadurker tribe who settled in the Quercy region at that time . In Roman times the city was called Divona Cadurcorum . This then became Cadurca and finally Cahors.
Cahors has been the seat of a bishopric since the early Middle Ages and was a prosperous trading town as early as the 6th century due to its convenient but protected location. At the latest after the division of the part of Charibert I of Paris, i.e. 567, Cahors belonged to Neustria. After the marriage of the Neustrian King Chilperich I , he gave the city, together with Bordeaux , Limoges , Bearn and Bigorre, but as a morning gift to his bride Gailswintha . These five cities were strategically located in the area of the father-in-law Athanagild , king of the Visigoths. After Chilperich had arranged for his wife to be murdered, this inheritance passed to the Kingdom of Austrasia , following a settlement by a Malberg summoned by Guntram , King of the Burgundians. Not agreeing to this, Chilperich tried to recapture the cities from 573 onwards, which led to one of the many Merovingian civil wars.
From the 9th century, Cahors was under the Dukes of Toulouse.
The city on the Way of St. James rose to its greatest importance in the 13th century. At that time, Cahors became the first banking and stock exchange center in Europe when the Lombard creditors of the bishop, who had supported the notorious Simon IV de Montfort with troops in the Albigensian Crusade , settled in the city. They were - derived from the name of the city - referred to in German as "Kawerzen".
Pope John XXII , who came from Cahors . founded a university in 1332, which was affiliated to that of Toulouse in 1751 . In the Peace of Brétigny in 1360, the city was surrendered to the English without a fight. It did not return to France until 1428, but its wealth was gone. The Hundred Years War put an end to the heyday of Cahors.
Way of St. James (Via Podiensis)
In the Middle Ages, the streams of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela , who had followed the valley of the Lot or the Célé, united in Cahors . They left the city over the Pont Valentré bridge to continue on to Montcuq over the limestone plateau of the Quercy Blanc . There were several hospices in Cahors . Today there are three pilgrim hostels (French: Gîte d'étape ), hotels, private accommodation (Chambre d'hôtes) and a campsite. Cahors also has an Office de Tourisme . On the way to Montcuq there are other accommodation facilities in Les Mathieux , Labastide-Marnhac , Lhospitalet and Escayrac . The Way of St. James leads slightly hilly through the agricultural landscape of Quercy Blanc, past lonely hamlets and individual farms. As a road connection, the D653 leads to Montcuq.
Economy and culture
The city is dominated by the administration and services. The manufacturing industry is characterized by medium-sized companies with a focus on the food industry. Cahors is the capital of the wine-growing region of the same name . Another important agricultural product in the region is the truffle . There are also some companies in the pharmaceutical and electrical industries.
With the construction of the A20 motorway, Cahors has moved into the catchment area of the regional metropolis of Toulouse.
In 2005, Cahors received the official French label “City of Art and History”, reflecting the city's rich cultural heritage.
The Cahors Blues Festival has existed since 1985 and not only attracts blues musicians to the city every summer.
Attractions
- Pont Valentré : Bridge from the 14th century (1308–1378) with three fortified towers, six arches and pillars reinforced with pointed bastions. The extraordinary example of a medieval defense structure became the symbol of Cahors. The Pont Valentré is part of the French section of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. As such, the bridge was designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 as “The Way of the Pilgrims in France ”.
- Saint-Etienne cathedral: the cathedral with its dome architecture is the main church of Cahors and the seat of the bishop; Construction began in the 11th century, has been a listed building since 1862, and has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998
- Mont Saint-Cyr: from the height of Mont Saint-Cyr there is the most beautiful view over the city
- Remains of the Roman thermal baths of Cahors (Arc de Diane)
- the aqueduct of Cahors
- the 14th century church of Saint Barthelemy
sons and daughters of the town
- Jules Combarieu (1859–1916), musicologist and music critic
- Saint Didier (571–614), Bishop of Auxerre
- Louis Darquier de Pellepoix (1897–1980), right-wing extremist politician
- Léon Gambetta (1838–1882), French statesman of the Third Republic
- Philippe Gaubert (1879–1941), French flautist and composer
- Pope John XXII. (actually Jacques Duèse ) (1245 or 1249–1334), Pope of the Catholic Church, was the first Pope to reside permanently in Avignon from 1316 onwards
- Clément Marot (around 1496–1544), French poet
- Laurent Roux (* 1972), racing cyclist
literature
- Bettina Forst: French Way of St. James. From Le Puy-en-Velay to Roncesvalles. All stages - with variants and height profiles. Bergverlag Rother, Munich (recte: Ottobrunn) 2007, ISBN 978-3-7633-4350-8 (Rother hiking guide) .
- Bert Teklenborg: Cycling along the Camino de Santiago. From the Rhine to the western end of Europe. 3rd, revised edition, Verlagsanstalt Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-7022-2626-8 (bicycle travel guide, route planner).
Web links
- Office de Tourisme (French)
- Cahors in detail
- Cahors Blues Festival (French)
- The Cahors Aqueduct (French)
- Along the Via Podiensis
- Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1570: Wie nu die von der Reformierte Religion, zu Cahors a preach solten thon ... ( digitized version )
Individual evidence
- ^ Community information on annuaire-mairie.fr (French)
- ↑ Augustin Thierry : The kings and queens of the Merovingians , 1840
- ↑ kawerze . In: Former Academy of Sciences of the GDR, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences (Hrsg.): German legal dictionary . tape 7 , issue 5 (edited by Günther Dickel , Heino Speer, with the assistance of Renate Ahlheim, Richard Schröder, Christina Kimmel, Hans Blesken). Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1978, OCLC 832567094 ( adw.uni-heidelberg.de ).
← Previous location: Varaire 31.5 km | Cahors | Next town: Labastide-Marnhac 9.5 km →