Cahors | History, Geography, & Points of Interest | Britannica (original) (raw)

Cahors, town, capital of Lot département, Occitanie région, formerly capital of Quercy province, southern France. It is situated on a rocky peninsula surrounded by the Lot River and overlooked (southeast) by Mont Saint-Cyr, northeast of Agen. It was the capital of the ancient Cadurci people and was the Roman Divona; its ancient spring (Fons Divona) still supplies city water. During the Roman period it was famed for linen cloth. Later it was occupied by Visigoths and by Muslim invaders. In the 13th century, through its moneylenders, it became a well-known financial centre. From 1316 to the French Revolution of 1789, its bishops administered the region as coseigneurs with royal officers. Pope John XXII, a native of the city, established a university there in 1331 that survived until 1751, when it was combined with that of Toulouse.

The boulevard Gambetta (named for the statesman Léon Gambetta, who was born in Cahors) divides the town’s old and new quarters. The old town to the east is dominated by the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne, the first church in France to have cupolas. Founded in 1119 and rebuilt in part between 1285 and 1500, it influenced regional ecclesiastical architecture. The Pont Valentré, with three machicolated towers, is the finest medieval fortified bridge in France. Three other bridges, all built in the 19th century, span the river.

Cahors functions as a small regional service centre, but it also houses a number of industries, including food processing, printing, and the manufacture of automobile components and pharmaceuticals. Pop. (1999) 20,003; (2014 est.) 19,630.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.