Catus

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catus
catus
Coat of arms of Catus
Catus (France)
Catus
region Occitania
Department Lot
Arrondissement Cahors
Canton Causse et Bouriane
Community association Grand Cahors
Coordinates 44 ° 33 '  N , 1 ° 20'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 33 '  N , 1 ° 20'  E
height 130–341 m
surface 21.32 km 2
Residents 860 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 40 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 46150
INSEE code

Church Saint-Astier

Catus ( Occitan : catus ) is a southern French community with 860 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Lot in the Région Occitan .

location

Catus lies on the north bank of the river Vert at an altitude of about 170 meters above sea level. d. M. in the old cultural landscape of the Quercy , about 18 kilometers (driving distance) northwest of Cahors .

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
Residents 685 653 647 775 807 906 917

In the 19th century the place always had between 1,200 and 1,700 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture , the number of inhabitants has since declined continuously to the lows in the 1960s and 1970s.

economy

In the Haut-Quercy , agriculture, which included viticulture until the 19th century, was primarily self-sufficient for centuries . After the phylloxera crisis in the second half of the 19th century, viticulture in the region was almost completely given up. Today - in addition to agriculture, retail and handicrafts - tourism in the form of renting holiday apartments ( gîtes ) plays a major role in the economic life of the municipality.

history

Based on the name one suspects a Roman or Gallo-Roman origin of the place. In the 11th century a priory was built around which the place developed. During the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and in the course of the Huguenot Wars (1562–1598) the church and town suffered severe damage; At the end of the 14th century, the priory was even temporarily abandoned. The outbuildings of the monastery were sold as a national good ( Bien national ) during the French Revolution and most of them were demolished.

Attractions

House with a square watchtower and defense tower
House with a round stair tower
  • The former priory church , consecrated to the holy hermit Asterius , is a three-aisled building from the Middle Ages that has been modernized several times. Its current appearance is largely the result of the renovation and new construction measures of the 16th and 17th centuries. Century. The crossing tower still has Romanesque features, while the nave and the apses in the Gothic style ( tracery windows , pointed arches ) have been renewed. The medieval chapter house now serves as a sacristy and is not open to the public. The priory buildings have been recognized as Monuments historiques in several stages since 1891 .
  • The former castle chapel in the Salvezou district three kilometers to the northeast is a single-nave and only two- bay building from the 14th century, the interior of which was decorated with frescoes ( Adam and Eve , flight to Egypt , falconry etc.) in the 16th century . The chapel was classified as a monument historique in 1990 .
  • The market hall ( halle aux blés ) is an elevated building from the 19th century.
  • Parts of some houses in the village are from the 15th / 16th centuries. Century.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ancien prieuré Saint-Jean, Catus in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. Eglise de Salvezou, Catus in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)