Cardaillac

Cardaillac ; Cardalhac
region	Occitania
Department	Lot
Arrondissement	Figeac
Canton	Lacapelle-Marival
Community association	Grand Figeac
Coordinates	44 ° 41 ′ N , 2 ° 0 ′ E Coordinates: 44 ° 41 ′ N , 2 ° 0 ′ E
height	226-575 m
surface	18.1 km 2
Residents	602 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	33 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	46100
INSEE code	46057
	; Place view

Cardaillac ( Occitan Cardalhac ) is a French commune with 602 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Lot department in the Occitania region (previously Midi-Pyrénées ). Cardaillac is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France .

geography

Cardaillac lies at a height of about 360 meters above sea level. d. M. on the southwestern edge of the Massif Central, roughly on the border between the fertile Limargue region and the very different limestone soils of the Ségala . The place is located on a branch of the Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis ) about halfway between Rocamadour or Gramat and Figeac ; the city of Cahors is about 73 kilometers southwest. The Drauzou River , a tributary of the Célé, runs along the western municipal boundary .

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Residents	456	372	407	434	475	498	549

In the 19th century the place always had between 1,000 and 1,300 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture , the population fell in the first half of the 20th century to the lows in the 1960s and 1970s.

economy

In the Haut-Quercy , agriculture was primarily self-sufficient , which also included viticulture until the 19th century, but which was almost completely abandoned after the phylloxera crisis . Today - in addition to retail and handicrafts - tourism in the form of renting holiday apartments ( gîtes ) plays a major role in the economic life of the municipality.

history

In the 8th century, Pippin the Short - in gratitude for services rendered to Waifar , the Duke of Aquitaine striving for independence - handed over territories in northern Quercy to his loyal comrade Bertrand , who then took the name Cardaillac . Around the middle of the 11th century, the family or place name reappeared in documents and from then on belonged to one of the most important and widely ramified families of the Quercy. In 1188, in the run-up to the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), Richard the Lionheart conquered the place. In the clashes of the 16th century between Catholics and Protestants , the religious split ran right through the Cardaillac family; the local landlord ( seigneur ) himself sided with the Protestants.

Attractions

Tour de l'Horloge

The square clock tower ( Tour de l'Horloge ) is part of the former city fortifications from the 13th century. The entrance to the tower is about 3.25 high and was only accessible via a ladder. A narrow and therefore easily defendable spiral staircase within the thick outer walls could be used to reach the upper floors of the tower, which served as retreat accommodation. There was an outside latrine about halfway up. Later, a warning bell was installed above, which also served as an hour bell. The approximately 25 meter high structure was classified as a Monument historique in 1991 .

Another tower of the former fortification is the Tour de Sagnes . The approximately 25 meter high structure can be climbed; it was classified as a Monument historique in 1957 .

The parish church ( Église Saint-Julien ) dates from the 17th century; the neo-Romanesque west facade was added in the 19th century. The compact interior of the church has a single nave and is spanned by rib vaults.

A 21 meter deep well ( Puit Manganel ) from the 17th century stands in the central square of the village.