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Bastide (planned town)Lot

Castelfranc

Castelfranc

Dimensions
An orthogonal bastide plan around a central square bordered by the market hall, the town house and the church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption; the chapel of Saint-Roch; the suspension bridge over the Lot leading to Anglars; the restored lock and quay of the 19th century; two dolmens on the causse, among them Los-Très-Peyros, whose capstone of 3.40 metres still rests on its orthostats.
Period
Episcopal bastide founded about 1280; church inscribed in 1920; lock of 1836 and weir of 1839.
What stands there
The church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption has been inscribed as a monument historique since 1920. Castelfranc is one of the bastides founded by the bishops of Cahors, alongside the royal and seigneurial bastides of the Quercy.

Framed by two steep ridges on the bank of the Lot, downstream from Cahors, Castelfranc is a bastide founded about 1280 by the bishops of Cahors, temporal lords of the Quercy. Its name says as much: "franc" describes a town endowed with franchises and privileges. The village is laid out on an orthogonal plan around its central square, bordered by the market hall, the town house and the church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, inscribed as a monument historique in 1920. A chapel of Saint-Roch, a suspension bridge towards Anglars and, on the river, a lock and a quay of the 19th century brought back into service complete the ensemble. On the neighbouring causse, two dolmens, Los-Très-Peyros and the Pech de Roquebert, recall an occupation long earlier than the bastide.

Further reading

Getting there : Free access to the village; the square, the market hall and the banks of the Lot can be walked.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Castelfranc
Paternel 1 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Lot (15).