Villeneuve-sur-Lot (; in the Languedocien dialect of

Occitan language Occitan (; oc, occitan, link=no ), also known as ''lenga d'òc'' (; french: langue d'oc) by its native speakers, and sometimes also referred to as ''Provençal'', is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Vall ...

: ''Vilanuèva d'Òlt'' ) is a town and

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 southwestern French department of

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.Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

and straddles the river Lot.

History

Villeneuve was founded in 1254 by

Alphonse, Count of Poitiers Alphonse or Alfonso (11 November 122021 August 1271) was the count of Poitou from 1225 and count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence. Birth and early life Born at P ...

, brother of Louis IX, on the site of the town of Gajac, which had been deserted during the Albigensian Crusade. By the early 20th century, Villeneuve-sur-Lot was an important agricultural centre and had a large trade in plums (''prunes d'ente''); the preparation of preserved plums and the tinning of peas and beans were major industries. The important mill of Gajac stood on the bank of the Lot a little above the town.

Population

Sights

The main quarter of the town is located on the right bank of the Lot River and is linked to the quarter on the left bank by a bridge from the 13th century, the principal arch of which, constructed during the reign of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

in place of two older arches, has a span of and a height of . 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 monumental 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 Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

. On the left bank of the Lot, 3 km S.S.W. of Villeneuve, are the 13th-century walls of Pujols located. The buildings of the formet abbey of Eysses, about 2 km to the N.E., are mainly from the 17th century and serve as a departmental prison and penitentiary settlement. The principal hospital, the hospice St Cyr, is a pretty building standing in beautiful gardens. The Pont De La Liberation, which spans the Lot river, is a 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 Eugène Freyssinet () (13 July 1879 – 8 June 1962) was a French structural and civil engineer. He was the major pioneer of prestressed concrete. Biography Freyssinet was born in at Objat, Corrèze, France. He worked in the '' École National ...

, one of the pioneers in using reinforced concrete.

Notable people

* Mikaël Brageot (born 1987), pilot, Red Bull Air Race competitor * Benoît Broutchoux (1879–1944), anarchist * Nicolas Cazalé (born 1977), actor *

Charles Derennes Charles Derennes (4 August 1882 – 27 April 1930) was a French novelist, essayist and poet, the winner of the Prix Femina in 1924. Biography Derennes was born in Charente, the son of Gustave, a professor of history, and Marthe Cassan, the dau ...

(1882–1930), writer, winner of the 1924 edition of the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works writte ...

* Georges Leygues (1857–1933), politician of the Third Republic * Caroline Paulus (born 1959), actress, fashion model and singer

Twin towns – sister cities

Villeneuve-sur-Lot is twinned with: * Ávila, Spain *

Bouaké Bouaké (or Bwake, N’ko: ߓߐ߰ߞߍ߫ ''Bɔ̀ɔkɛ́'') is the second-largest city in Ivory Coast, with a population of 740,000 (2021 census). It is the seat of three levels of subdivision— Vallée du Bandama District, Gbêkê Region, and Bo ...

, Ivory Coast * Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany *

San Donà di Piave San Donà di Piave (; vec, San Donà ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. It is one of the historical main towns of the ''Eastern Veneto'' territory, although it was totally reconstructed in the ...

, Italy *

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom

References

External links

Official websiteRugby Club Villeneuvois
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villeneuvesurlot Communes of Lot-et-Garonne Subprefectures in France Agenais