A scattered pastoral heritage
As we have said, the Lot is essentially a peasant land. To delimit small plots of land, farmers have built low dry stone walls for centuries. In decline since the end of the 19th century due to a form of exodus to industrialized cities, the low walls were replaced by electric fences in the 1950s. Today, they are the remains of an almost extinct past. A few enthusiasts, alone or in associations, take the time to climb up a few meters of these collapsed walls.
Rich of its rural past and because of the poverty of its soils in vegetal ground, the Lot possesses an important number of small huts in dry stone which one names here cazelle or gariotte. The first one refers directly to the house, the second one comes from the French "guérite". Two names for the same function: vineyard shelter, equipment shed, storeroom, sheepfold, barn, or temporary dwelling for a servant or farm worker. These constructions, resulting from the removal of stones from a plot of land in order to make it suitable for cultivation, are an integral part of the Lot landscape. The construction of these shelters is remarkable because no mortar was used, a simple wedge of stones was used to build the wall and the roof. This heritage of stones is present essentially on the causses of Gramat and Limogne-en-Quercy.
Castles of the English
The Lot has the particularity to preserve a very singular medieval wealth. Since the Carolingian era, Man has used the topology of the area to build fortified defensive buildings on the cliffs, along the steep valleys of the Lot and the Célé. From their high castles, one could control the traffic on the rivers from a safe distance. Later on, the buildings were called "Châteaux des Anglais". It is a rather romantic name, but today historians agree that these fortifications were too small to accommodate the horse troops who fought against the English during the Hundred Years War.
So where can you admire these castles perched on the side of the rock? In the Lot valley, from Cahors to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, you will be able to see four English castles. The first one in Laroque-des-Arcs then in Vers located in the western part of the cliffs, in Saint-Géry, followed by the most famous in Bouziès near the suspension bridge. Direction Cabrerets to discover those of the Célé Valley. Three castles are visible: the Devil's castle in Cabrerets, one in Sauliac-sur-Célé and the last one in Brengues which dates from the 12th century. None of these sites is open to the public, too difficult to access. Nevertheless, you can observe them from the bottom of the valleys.
In the same spirit, you will also find some traces of semi-troglodyte houses. We can mention the hamlet of Saint-Martin-Labouval, la Toulzanie, whose houses are partially troglodytic along the rock. A few miles from Cabrerets, there is also a semi-troglodytic mill. In the same way, Rocamadour also presents examples of the kind with semi-troglodytic houses which are spread out in the alley of its city.
The Valentré Bridge
It is the symbol of Cahors and the jewel of the Lot medieval heritage. Its history, like many such buildings in the Middle Ages, is mixed with legend. Before telling you about the devil's intervention, let's start with the facts. In 1306, the consuls of the city of Cahors, wanting to show the Church their weight in the city, decided to build a bridge at a place called "Valandre" on the western part of the meander of Cahors, in the extension of the axis of the cathedral. Two other fortified bridges already existed: one to the south and one to the east. In 1308, the building site was launched and it was to last nearly 70 years. It was in 1345 that the bridge was put into service. It is 172 meters long, has 8 arches and three towers.
In 1880, the bridge is made a beauty by the architect Paul Gout who will make sculpt by the local artist Cyprien-Antoine Calmon a small devil at the top of the central tower. The devil, here he is! The duration of the building site gave rise to a legend of which several versions coexist today. It is said that the master builder, unable to complete his work, had recourse to Satan with whom he made a pact. Satan promised to help him by all means in exchange for the soul of the architect at the end of the work. Of course, when the architect saw his bridge about to be completed, he gave the devil a sieve (a sort of pierced bucket) ordering him to draw water from the masons to mix the lime. The devil failed twenty times and admitted his defeat, promising vengeance. Some time later, the masons had almost finished building the middle tower, but every morning they found the upper northwest corner cut down, making it impossible to complete the tower.
The bastides
Between 1236 and 1316, a dozen bastides were founded in the ancient province of Quercy. These are the small new towns of the Middle Ages, fortified, with a structured stronghold. Among these is Castelfranc, a bastide of the bishops of Cahors founded in 1280. At the gates of the bastide is the oratory of Saint-Roch, a small chapel rebuilt in 1840 which protected the inhabitants during the plague of 1508.
In the west of the department, the bastide of Montcabrier was founded in 1298 and is organized around a square square lined with beautiful medieval facades with arcades and corbelled corners. The 14th century Saint-Louis church dominates the square from the height of its bell tower. You will be able to admire the house of the court of justice of the 16th century, the old house of the jugery with its Renaissance window, as well as vestiges of the enclosure, old ramparts, a fortified door and a corner tower.
Castelnau-Montratier has been inhabited on a rocky promontory since Gallo-Roman times. In the middle of the 11th century, a castle named Castelnau-de-Vaux was built, but it was razed during the Albigensian War. In 1250, the Lord of Ratier rebuilt the town on the model of the bastides and gave it its name.
