Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Bridge over the Lot River

Coat of arms
Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Coordinates: 44°24′29″N 0°42′18″E / 44.4081°N 0.705°E / 44.4081; 0.705Coordinates: 44°24′29″N 0°42′18″E / 44.4081°N 0.705°E / 44.4081; 0.705
Country France
Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Lot-et-Garonne
Arrondissement Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Intercommunality Villeneuvois
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) Jérôme Cahuzac
Area1 81.32 km2 (31.40 sq mi)
Population (1999)2 22,782
 • Density 280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 47323 / 47300
Elevation 42–209 m (138–686 ft)
(avg. 55 m or 180 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Villeneuve-sur-Lot (French pronunciation: ​[vilnœv syʁ lɔt]; in the Gascon dialect of Occitan language: Vilanuèva d'Olt [bilaˈnwɛβɔ ˈðult]) is a town and commune in the southwestern French department of Lot-et-Garonne. The commune was formerly named Villeneuve-d'Agen.

Villeneuve-sur-Lot is located 22 km northeast of Agen and straddles the river Lot.

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.

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 36 m. and a height of 18 m. On the left bank, portions of the 13th century ramparts, altered and surmounted by machicolations of the 15th 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 late Gothic style. On the left bank of the Lot, 3 km. S.S.W. of Villeneuve, are the 13th-century walls of Pujols.

The buildings of the ancient abbey of Eysses, about 2 km to the N.E., 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.

The Pont De La Liberation which spans the Lot river is a 96.2 m (315 ft) arch bridge built between 1910 and 1919. When it was completed it was the largest single span concrete arch in the world. It was designed by Eugène Freyssinet, one of the pioneers of reinforced concrete.

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.

People

Villeneuve-sur-Lot was the birthplace of:

Twin towns

See also

References

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