Tournon-d'Agenais (, literally ''Tournon of

Agenais Agenais (), or Agenois (), was an ancient region that became a county (Old French: ''conté'' or ''cunté'') of France, south of Périgord.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Agenais". '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Sprin ...

''; oc, Tornon d'Agenés) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.department in south-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

History

Tournon-d'Agenais was founded in 1271 by Philip III (1245–1285), King of France from 1270 to 1280, son of King Louis IX, commonly known as Saint Louis. At the heart of the urban planning in this

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the fir ...

is the typical central square (Place des Corniers) with stone houses above arched stone arcades. This reflects the planners’ intent to create a vital place for social and commercial exchanges among the new residents. In addition, the halle (market building), the town house and the maison of Bayle are located in this central square, showing a centralization of the municipal institutions. In the center of the square there is also the town hall, which was a symbol of a major struggle during the Middle Ages for an ample supply of water. The castle of Tournon d'Agenais was destroyed in 1212, noted by the English in 1283 and played an important role during the Hundred Year War. On the other side of the main square, a few streets away, there is the bishop's house called 'Abescat'. This was built during the 13th century and became the parish church of Tournon after the old church was destroyed in the 1560s during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

. During the Albigensian War, in 1212, Simon de Montfort gave the house of Abescat to the bishop of Agen (probably the site, the land, or an earlier house, because the current house is later). During the Hundred Years' War, the city changed hands often. The Protestants razed the Catholic church in 1580 then it was replaced by the Abescat30. The Récollets convent was built in the 17th century on the ruins of the old Château de Tournon, in order to revive the Catholic religion after the departure of the Protestants. During the period of the National Convention (1792-1795), the commune bore the revolutionary name of Tournon-la-Montagne. A very large commune, Tournon-d'Agenais was divided twice in the 19th century: in 1837 to create the communes of Montayral and Saint-Vite (the population of Tournon decreased by 2,650 inhabitants), then in 1876 to create the communes of 'Anthé, Bourlens, Cazideroque, Courbiac, Masquières and Thézac (the population of Tournon decreases by 2,800 inhabitants)31. On July 3, 1944, 1,500 men of the Panzergrenadier division "das Gepent" coming from Cahors and heading towards Villeneuve-sur-Lot, fired on the few resistance fighters present at Place du Foirail. The reprisal operations against the resistance fighters and the civilian population lasted 6 hours, during which several people were tortured and killed by the Germans. Many houses were looted, ransacked and some burned. This event is known as the sack of Tournon-d'Agenais. Several architectural testimonies remain of its rich past, such as: the belfry and its lunar clock the 13th century House the Saint-André-de-Carabaysses church (or Lamothe church) the Abescat room his city tour

History

See also