Villeneuve-sur-Lot

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Commune of Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Bridge over the Lot River in Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Location
Longitude 00° 42' 18" E
Latitude 44° 24' 29" N
Administration
Country France
Region Aquitaine
Department Lot-et-Garonne
(sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Canton Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality Communauté des
Communes du Villeneuvois
Mayor Jérôme Cahuzac
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude 42 m–209 m
(avg. 55 m)
Land area¹ 81.32 km²
Population²
(1999)		 22,782
 - Density (1999) 280/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 47323/ 47300
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).
France

Villeneuve-sur-Lot (in the Gascon dialect of Occitan language: Vilanuèva d'Olt) is a commune of the Lot-et-Garonne département, in southwestern France.

The commune was formerly named Villeneuve-d'Agen.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Villeneuve-sur-Lot is located 22 m. N. by E. of Agen. The town is divided into two unequal portions by the Lot River, which here runs between high banks.

[edit] History

Villeneuve was founded in 1254 by Alphonse, count of Poitiers, brother of Louis IX, on the site of the town of Gajac, which had been deserted during the Albigensian Crusade.

Pop. (1906) town, 6978; commune, 13,540.

[edit] Sights

The chief quarter of the town stands on the right bank of the Lot River and is united to the quarter on the left bank by a bridge of the 13th century, the principal arch of which, constructed in the reign of Louis XIII in place of two older arches, has a span of 118 ft. and a height of 59 ft. On the left bank portions of the 13th century ramparts, altered and surmounted by machicolations in the 1sth century, remain, and high square towers rise above the gates to the north-east and southwest, known respectively as the Porte de Paris and Porte de Pujols.

On the right bank boulevards have for the most part taken the place of the ramparts. Arcades of the 13th century surround the Place La Fayette, and old houses of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries are to be seen in various parts of the town. The church of St Etienne is in late Gothic style. On the left bank of the Lot, 2 m. S.S.W. of Villeneuve, are the 13th-century walls of Pujols.

The buildings of the ancient abbey of Eysses, about a mile to the N.E., which are mainly of the 17th century, serve as a departmental prison and penitentiary settlement. The principal hospital, the hospice St Cyr, is a handsome building standing in beautiful gardens.

[edit] Economy

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911):

Villeneuve-sur-Lot is an important agricultural centre and has a very large trade in plums (prunes d'ente) and in the produce of the market gardens which surround it, as well as in cattle, horses and wine. The preparation of preserved plums and the tinning of peas and beans occupy many hands; there are also manufactures of boots and shoes and tin boxes. The important mill of Gajac stands on the bank of the Lot a little above the town.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] People

Villeneuve-sur-Lot was the birthplace of:

[edit] Twin towns

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Reference

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