Puy-l'Évêque (;

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian, or Lengadocian () is an Occitan language, Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Lang ...

: ''Puèg l’Avesque'') is a commune of France situated in the

Lot Lot, LOT, The Lot or similar may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *A great many of something, as in, "There are a lot of beetles," or "There are ...

department, in the Occitanie region. The town is picturesquely situated at the neck of a long loop of the

river in

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

on the D811 between

Fumel Fumel (; ) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. Situated at the right bank of the river Lot, it is the centre of a small agglomeration (population 13,028 in 2017) which consists of 7 communes, including Monsem ...

and

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

, it is at the center of the Cahors (AOC) wine region.

History

The origins of the town are obscure. Though vestiges of a Roman road have been discovered running through it, there is no mention of the town until the Middle Ages. It was a

Cathar Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

stronghold before the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

; in 1228 the warrior Bishop of Cahors, Guillaume de Cardaillac, took possession of it and gave it the present name of Puy-l’Evêque, "Bishop's Hill". From then on, it remained under the control of the Count-Bishops of Cahors. Puy-l'Évêque suffered considerably in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

when it was occupied for a time by the English. In 1580, during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent ...

, it was besieged unsuccessfully by the Protestants under the future King

Henri IV Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

; the marks of his cannonballs can still be seen in the main church of Saint-Sauveur. With the French Revolution the rule of the Count-Bishops ended and the town briefly took the name of 'Puy Libre'. In the period of prosperity that followed the Napoleonic Wars the town was transformed. The 1830s and 1840s saw the construction of the first bridge over the Lot, and the building of the Route Nationale 111 (now D811), the first good road connection to the outside world. A branch railroad line arrived in 1869.

Nomenclature

The name ''Puy-l'Évêque'' (in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

: ''Pèg l'Avesque'') is formed from ''Puy,'' a French version of the Occitan word ''pèg'' or ''pech'', derived from the Latin word ''

podium A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...

'', in the sense of being raised to a height. ''L'Évêque'' indicates that this came under the suzerainty of the Comte-Évêque of

: Guillaume de Cardaillac 1. During the French Revolution the commune was renamed ''Puy-Libre'' and ''Puy-sur-Lot'' 2. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Puy-l'Évêquois''.

Sights and monuments

Puy-l’Evêque grew up as a ''bourg'' around the Count-Bishops' castle on the cliffs above the river; of this only the 13th-century donjon remains, next to the town hall. Beneath it, the ''Cale'' along the Lot is the landing where the ''gabarres'' (river barges) of the old days transported the region's wine to Bordeaux for export. From here the Rue de la Cale was the main street until the 19th century; the narrow medieval side streets that run off it bear the names of the trades that were practiced on them: Rue des Tanneurs (Tanners), Rue des Teinturiers (dyers), etc. Rue de la Cale follows a stream called the Clédelles, once lined with the mills that supplied the medieval town's prosperity. Above these, palaces of the medieval merchants line Rue des Capucins and Rue Bovila. The church of Saint-Sauveur (14th-16th centuries) stands on a height outside the center; in medieval times it was built into the town's wall, to serve as a strong point in its defense.

Economy

Puy-l’Evêque today lives largely on wine and tourism. 75% of the commune's agricultural land is under vines, and nearly a fifth of its residences are holiday homes.

Mayors

Population

At the start of the 20th century, Puy-l'Évêque had 1,887 inhabitants.''Le Lot'' partie ''Chemins de fer'' p.204 - Armand Viré - Réédition de l'ouvrage de 1907 -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puy-L'eveque Puyleveque