Communauté de communes du Pays de Martel

Communauté de communes du Pays de Martel
	Lot ( Midi-Pyrénées - France )
Establishment date	December 30, 1996
Seat	Martel
Communities	11
president	Jean-Claude Réquier
surface	km²
Residents	5,283 (1999)

The Communauté de communes du Pays de Martel is a former French Association of Local Authorities ( Communauté de communes ) in the Lot and the region Midi-Pyrenees . It was founded on January 1st, 1997 and expanded in 2002. It has a total of about 6,500 inhabitants; its main town is Martel . In 2015 it merged with other municipal associations to form the Communauté de communes Causses et Vallée de la Dordogne .

geography

Gignac

location

The association of municipalities is located in the far north of the cultural landscape of the Quercy on the border with the Corrèze department . Nine communities are north of the Dordogne ; two are south of the river.

landscape

The varied landscape is hilly with heights between approx. 100 to 350 meters above sea level. d. M .; a large part of the landscape is forested, other areas are used as arable or pasture land.

climate

The comparatively rainy climate is influenced to a large extent by the mountains of the Massif Central . The maximum daytime temperatures in summer rarely exceed 30 ° C; in winter, however, frost levels are only rarely measured.

economy

Agriculture dominates the entire region, with animal husbandry (cattle, pigs and poultry) playing an important role. In addition to the usual field crops, truffles , chestnuts and nuts play an important role in the menu of simple farmers in autumn , but now also in upscale gastronomy; there is also fruit (apples, pears, plums, apricots, figs, etc.). Renting out holiday homes or apartments also contributes to the income of people in the communities.

history

The permanent presence of people in the region has been documented by megalithic tombs since the Neolithic Age . Uxellodunum , the last oppidum of the Celtic tribe of the Cadurkers , after whom the whole landscape of the Quercy is named, was founded in 51 BC. Taken by Caesar's troops. No news has come down to us from the early Middle Ages; In the high Middle Ages and the Renaissance there was a lot of building activity in a provincial region, of which the city palaces of rich or become rich merchants in Martel bear witness. The region is experiencing an economic boom, albeit a limited one, mainly due to the gastronomy and cultural tourism of the last few decades.

Attractions

Apart from the varied landscape with an exceptionally tasty cuisine, there are also cultural aspects: Some testimonies of the megalithic cultures are of historical importance, especially the megalithic caves ( dolmen ) in the area of the municipality of Floirac. In addition, almost every place of the community association has one or more listed monuments historiques . Most of them are in Martel, whose old town center is well worth seeing.

Members

Martel - the 'city of seven towers'