Cahors

Cahors is a town on the river Lot in the Occitanie region of southern France. It’s known for its deep-coloured red wine, elaborate municipal gardens and the Valentry Bridge, a medieval bridge with 3 towers.

Cahors at night near the river Lot (left)

And from the air (below)

Valentry Bridge

(left and below)

The bridge, built in the 14th century by local councillors, was for defence and for collecting tolls on river and road traffic. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site. With its three towers, it is unique in the world. It also has a vineyard near it and a modern railway line separating it from the rest of the modern town.

Cathedrale St Étienne

(Left and below)

Cahors Cathedral was built in Gothic and Romanesque styles in the 12th century, with large domes and centuries-old frescoes. When we visited a service was going on, so we could not wander around, but the church was full.

Old Town

(Left and below)

Cahors was originally called Divona or Divona Cadurcorum, Divona of the Cadurci. The Cadurci were a Celtic people of Gaul before the Roman conquest in the 50s BC. Divona was a fountain which the Cadurci worshipped, now called "la fontaine des Chartreux". The old town has many half-timbered houses and narrow alleyways.

In the old streets near to the Cathedral is the sculpture, the Angel of Lazareth by Marc Petit (left)

The more modern (19th century) town has various statues  to famous men, a museum and beautifully layed out public gardens.

The Lot, originally named the Olt, used by millers for grinding grain (above), rises in the Cevennes, flowing west through Quercy, before joining the Garonne near Aiguillon, a distance of some 485 kilometres. It gives its name to the departments of Lot and Lot-et-Garonne. It is a navigable river at Cahors (below). On its banks grows its famous Malbec wine (left).