French Cahors (our compatriots are more likely to pronounce "Cahors," but this is incorrect) is located in the south-west of the country, a hundred kilometers north of Toulouse, on the winding banks of the river Lo . Today in Cahors, history, live about 20 thousand . person . Here you can admire the perfectly restored old buildings, the tourism industry is well developed, there are many festivals, there are all opportunities for recreation . If you remember also about the wine, in which Cahors always con uriroval the nearby Bordeaux, this city is definitely a first-class place in any tourist route .

How to get to Cahors

The easiest way is by train from Toulouse for 1 hour 10 minutes

A bit of history

The city was founded Romans during the reign of Emperor Augustus, although the name "Cahors" appeared around the 7th century, when the powerful Bishop Saint Didier revived him and encircled him with a protective wall . Five centuries later, Cahor was already in its heyday . In the 12th-14th centuries the city significantly rebuilt: due to its location on the river, which also transported wines Kaoru became quite a major economic center . Largely thanks to the complicity of Pope John XII, the local native, the city flourished; in 1316 g . even our own university appeared here . Since the Middle Ages in Cahors, many buildings, a cathedral and hundreds of houses have survived, not to mention the Valantre Picture Bridge . But after the Hundred Years War the population has noticeably declined, and the economy in Kahore went on a recession . Even the university in 1751 . was moved to Toulouse . After the Great French Revolution, the city gradually revived, new buildings appeared, including the library, the Town Hall (1847 year .), the Palace Justice (1865 .), and in 1869 . the railway connected it with the line Paris-Agen .

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Entertainment, excursions and attractions of Kaora

You can explore the city in several ways, including on a small train that will take you to the center in 45 minutes (start from the terrace of Valantre); on a boat sailing through a valley with vineyards (from April to November) and even on a cart, in which a donkey is harnessed (1 hour and 15 minutes of excursion through the medieval streets) . But after any of these tours, you must necessarily become a separate pedestrian to not to miss anything interesting .Because in addition to attractions with "mandatory" status the city is full of beauty, not striking . For example, in the vicinity of 1500 g . in Cahors, an original sculptural school was formed, the followers of which began to cut roses and buds on wooden building elements . And today such ornaments can be seen on the chapel of the cathedral and some houses . Architecture of the 19th century can be studied in the area that lies to the west of the Gambetta boulevard: the terraces here have preserved the pristine neoclassical facades . And the legacy of the 20th century is represented in Cahors many buildings, in particular the Belle Epoque style . The buildings built between the two wars can be seen, for example, in the streets of Henri Martin or Victor Hugo .

According to some estimates, the largest number of medieval houses in Cahors remained, rather than in any other city in the south of France. From modest houses of ordinary citizens to the residences of well-to-do bourgeois, from merchants' dwellings to real palaces, all these buildings are divided into three main districts of the Old City.

If to return to the "obligatory" program, the first item in it will be listed, most likely , the Valantre bridge, laid in 1308 . in the western part of the city . Its length is 172 m, the bridge totals 8 arches and since 1995 . became exclusively pedestrian . The construction of this stone bridge stretched for long 70 years , which even gave birth to the legend that the architect Zak dealt with the unclean . It was possible to walk on the bridge already in 1345 ., but because of the Hundred Years War only in the 80's . were completed three towers . In 1880 . during restoration, a small figure of the devil was carved at the top of the central tower . In 1998 the . bridge was introduced by UNESCO into the World Heritage List as part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela .

The second significant site of the city is the cathedral Saint-Etienne. Founded in the 7th century, it was rebuilt in the 12th century, and today on the Romanesque facade you can see a prominent carved tympanum, a contemporary of Toulouse. At the end of the 13th century, a western Gothic facade was attached to the cathedral, and inside the cathedral one can see murals of the same time. During the Counter-Reformation of the 17th and 18th centuries, a baroque altar and organ appeared in the interior. The cathedral, like the Valantre Bridge, is considered part of the pilgrimage route and the World Heritage.

Near the cathedral are five Secret Gardens. They are equipped in the image and likeness of ancient gardens with medieval castles and monasteries, although they were broken in recent times. Among them - the Moorish garden, a garden with medicinal herbs, a garden with plants that went to food in the Middle Ages, and "The Garden of a Witch and a Dragon" with diabolical plants, which are associated with various old legends. Gardens deserve many awards, and individual tours with a guide are conducted on them.

The former Jesuit college is notable for its several parts: it is a chapel with beautiful paintings, a hall with an interesting vault in the French style, a wide staircase. A Baptist church of St. Bartholomew with an impressive bell tower in the 17th century was part of the city's seminary. Until now, the evidence of her glorious past has survived inside - paintings, busts, altar ornaments. An organ is installed in the church, and a small concert is included in the group tour with the guide.

Several museums are open in the city . The most interesting of them is the Henri Martin Museum, which occupies the former episcopal residence on Emilya Zola Street . Here is the collection of works of the pianist, and there are also interesting exhibitions of contemporary masters of different genres .The Resistance Museum on de Gaulle Square tells about the events of the war period . And on the waterfront Albert Kappa in the building of the former pumping station, closed in 1971 ., the museum of water . is opened Here, at the bridge of Valantre, you can see the exposition devoted to water resources of the region . Temporary exhibitions of contemporary painting, sculpture, photography and mosaics are also held at several sites of the Cahors - art gallery Lo in St. James street, gallery of young authors M . J . C ., gallery with a tea room of Carre d'Art on Pelegri Street and others .

Bn rochem, you can not blame those travelers who, having got to Cahors, ignore and museums, and exhibitions, and architectural beauties . This is understandable and forgivable: after all, in the first place Cahors are wine . And what! Wine growing in the region for more than fifteen hundred years, growing here a dark red malbec, the basis of the kaora . The trick in making kaora was preheating the grape juice and then keeping it in barrels: this gave the end product stability and allowed it to safely transport it abroad without risk that the wine will deteriorate . The specific technology also affects the taste only positively, giving the kaoru an amazing aroma, juicy and thick taste and sweet notes .

Alas, at the end of the 19th century, the vineyards of Cahors, like other European wine-growing centers, ruined the epidemic and severe winter, and only in the second half of the 20th century did traditional production begin to revive. And revived the same: today tourists can visit with an excursion one of the wineries in the vicinity of the city or simply, without hammering the head with unnecessary information, admire the real tart black kaor.