Valence d'Agen (; ), is a commune in the

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn (river), Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its n ...

department in the Occitanie

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Valence d'Agen is located from

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, from

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, from

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 ...

, from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. The departmental road D813 passes through the town. Until 2008 the road, which runs between

and

, was classified as a National Road N113 until replaced by the Autoroute. Exit 8 off the autoroute A62, which runs between

and

, lies a few kilometres south of town. A ''voie verte'', a path open to walkers and cyclists which runs along the Canal Latéral de la Garonne that passes through the southern edge of the town.

Valence-d'Agen station Valence-d'Agen is a railway station in Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie, France. The station is on the Bordeaux–Sète railway. The station is served by Transport express régional ...

is situated on the northern edge of the town, on the D813. It lies on the Bordeaux-Toulouse line. The

Barguelonne The Barguelonne (; ) is a long river in the Lot (department), Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne ''departments of France, départements'', southwestern France. Its source is near Terry, a hamlet in Pern, Lot, Pern. It flows generally southwes ...

flows westward through the northern part of the commune and forms part of its north-eastern and north-western borders.

Population

History

Bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...

town with English origins, founded in the 13th century by

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, King of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

when he was also the ruler of Aquitane. Valence d'Agen is a small town, easy to stroll around and discover its heritage. Water from the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

river feeds small and large fountains scattered throughout the city, and flows through its many

Lavoir A lavoir (, wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by s ...

of which 3 remain. The oldest Lavoir is that of Théron, remarkable for its circular roof. Dating is uncertain but it was in place at the end of the 18th century. Restorations in 1880 saw the appearance of tiling, for the sake of resistance to frost. The Saint-Bernard Lavoir was originally equipped with a drinking trough. Its construction, shortly after 1807, coincided with the filling in of the overly muddy ponds of the Plaça (current Jean-Baptiste-Chaumeil). In compensation, a Lavoir was built which made it possible to water the cattle and horses of the imperial gendarmes. A roof was added in 1924 to keep the washers from inclement weather. The roof and the brickwork have recently been restored. The wash house of Pé de Gleyze, dating from the 19th century, is built in a more traditional format than the others.

Twinned Cities

La Vall d'Uixó La Vall d'Uixó (, also known as ''Vall-llarga'', ''Vall del Duc'' or simply as ''La Vall''; ) is a town situated in eastern Spain, in the Valencian province of Castelló. La Vall is located 25 km to the south of the province's capital C ...

, a Spanish town of about 35,000 located in the

Province of Castellón Castellón (); co-officially in ) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. T ...

, has been a twin city to Valence since September 1990. The Spanish twin to Valence, France lies about 45 km due north of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and forms part of the Spanish autonomous region known as the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

References

Communes of Tarn-et-Garonne Agenais {{TarnGaronne-geo-stub

Geography

Population

History

Twinned Cities

See also

References