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Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées

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The river Lot

A Garonne's main tributaries...

 
The Lot, like the Dordogne, is one of the Garonne's main tributaries, and rises in the Auvergne, but much further south in the Lozère. It joins the Garonne at Aiguillon, well above the Gironde estuary. It has much in common with the Dordogne, such as its history as a vital route for commerce, but of course it has its own personality. The Lot flows into this département not far from Capdenac-le-Haut, perched high on a bluff which was once a Celtic hill-fort, and later a Gallo-Roman settlement. The mediaeval village is well worth a visit, and the views are spectacular.

 
Castles, true or false ?
 
Other unusual constructions resembling castles are strung out along the cliffs. In reality, they are defensive walls built in front of a cave entrance or a cleft in the rock. The finest specimen of such a fortified cave (or "roque") can be seen in Bouziès in the Lot Valley. These fortifications, whose origins remain obscure, are called "Devil's Castles" or "Englishmen's Castles". It highly unlikely that the English ever occupied these hideouts during the Hundred Years' War. Instead, these fanciful names are indicative of a popular tradition which enjoyed creating myths out of the cliff refuges.

 



Further downriver, the Lot flows past the attractive little town of Cajarc where every year in October, a saffron festival is held. Decreed to be a place of safety for Protestants after the Wars of Religion, it is now a place where anyone can enjoy a quiet life (except during the three-day Africajarc festival in summer!).

Pleasure of boating...

 
La Vallée du Lot
 

Cajarc, St Cirq Lapopie, Cahors, Puy l'Evêque...

 
After this, the river creates high limestone cliffs on its way through the limestone causse. Here, the spectacular village of St. Cirq Lapopie occupies its rocky outcrop, and downstream, the valley is narrow and enclosed as it glides past the fortified cave opposite the village of Bouziès Haut. Continuing down to Cahors, the valley begins to widen out, and the cliffs give way to steep-sided hills which sometimes drop suddenly into the water forming vertical faces called "cévennes". The fascinating, historic city of Cahors owes a great deal of the prosperity it enjoyed in the past to its situation on the river, which enabled the trade that was its lifeblood.
Much of the trade was concerned with Cahors wine, of course, and below the city, the countryside, growing ever gentler, is covered with serried ranks of carefully-tended vines as far as Soturac, where the Lot leaves its namesake. Villages and towns such as Douelle and Puy l'Evêque thrived on this business, and the lovely old houses which still line their narrow streets speak eloquently of their former occupants, whether rich merchant, comfortable craftsman, or hard-working labourer.
Tourist Offices on the Lot valley
 
St Cirq Lapopie - 05 65 31 31 31
See the website
 
Cahors - 05 65 53 20 65
See the web site
 
Puy l'Evêque - 05 65 21 37 63
See the website
 

Don't miss the Ganil towpath in Bouziès

 

 

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Lot Tourisme
BP 7 – 46001 Cahors cedex 9

05 65 35 07 09
info@tourisme-lot.com

 

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