Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (; oc, Sent Circ de la Pòpia) is a commune in the

Lot Lot or LOT or 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 *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in south-western France. It is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The most beautiful villages in France) association. Its position on a steep cliff 100m above the river, originally selected for defence, has helped make the town one of the most popular tourist destinations in the department, and the entire town is almost a museum. After being 'discovered' by the Post-Impressionist

Henri Martin Henri Martin may refer to: *Henri Martin (historian) (1810–1883), French historian *Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin (1860–1943), French impressionist painter *Henri Martin (French politician) (1927–2015), French communist leader *Henri Martin (Am ...

it became popular with other artists and the home of the writer

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

Location

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is 30 km east of Cahors, in the

regional natural park A regional nature park or regional natural park (french: parc naturel régional or PNR) is a public establishment in France between local authorities and the French national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty in ord ...

'. The village overlooks the Lot River.

History

The stronghold of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie was the main seat of one of the four viscounties that made up Quercy, divided among four feudal dynasties, the Lapopie, Gourdon, Cardaillac and Castelnau families.

Way of St James

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is on the French pilgrimage route,

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

. Coming from

Cabrerets Cabrerets (; Languedocien: ''Crabairet'') is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. The village of Cabrerets derives its name from ''cabre'', meaning goat in the Occitan language. Population Geography The village lies at the c ...

pilgrims would pass through and then continue to Cahors, visiting St Stephen's cathedral.

Notable people

Charles Rappoport Charles Rappoport (14 June 1865 – 17 November 1941) was a Russian and French militant communist politician, journalist and writer. A Jewish intellectual, and a multilingual scholar, he's been referred to as "a grand man of French radicalism". ...

(1865–1941) – Lithuanian-born militant communist politician, journalist and writer *Poet

spent time there in the 1950s in his 'auberge des Mariniers'. *Artist

Pierre Daura Pierre Daura (in Catalan: Pere Francesc Daura i Garcia February 21, 1896 – January 1, 1976) was a Catalan artist. He was born on Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, a few days before his parents returned to their home in Barcelona and registered h ...

lived there for many years.

Popularity

''The Guardian'' reported in July 2012 that the village received 400,000 visitors each year, mostly from within France, and that it had become "besieged by tourists" since winning a popularity vote on a French television programme in June 2012.

References

External links

Tourism office
Communes of Lot (department) Plus Beaux Villages de France {{Lot-geo-stub