Despite the small population, Agen, the capital of Aquitaine Lot-et-Garonne, quite attractive to look here for a day or two . once Agen was given as a dowry of Margaret of Valois at her marriage to Henry of Navarre . Today, it is a charming town, which adds more charm of the location on the river and a large historic canal and at the same time - at the foot of a pretty high hill . Here, halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse, has all the attributes of a cute provincial town: daily roofed market, the Gothic arches in the narrow medieval streets . Agen famous cathedral, prunes and a long stone bridge over the canal that linked the two seas a single trade route .
How to get to Agen
By rail from Toulouse (about 1 hour en route) or Bordeaux (same time) or from Perigueux. A high-speed train from Paris goes to Agen 4 hours with minutes. However, from here you can reach Paris: Airlinair planes fly in azhensky airport from Paris Orly 6 days a week
Search for flights to Bordeaux (nearest the a / c to Agen)
Chamonix from 35 285 rubles. for 8 days
Bride-les-Bains from 37,760 rubles. for 8 days
Tinh from 47 510 rubles. for 8 days
Best hotels 5 *. Paris. Disneyland. Vacation with children.
Cote d'Azur: Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Saint-Tropez.
Rent of aircraft. Transfers by helicopter. VIP service
СОДИС - 25 years of impeccable work.
Residence Tourotel 3 * from 21.03. for 7 nights from 50,717 rubles.
Altis Val Vert 3 * from 07.03. for 7 nights from 51,503 rubles
Residence Le Cheval Blanc 3 * from 07.03. for 7 nights from 55 574 rubles
We have been working for you since 1929! Book a tour online!
Entertainment, excursions and sights of Agen
The Cathedral of Agen dedicated to Saint Capras is one of the few large churches in a country with a double nave . The Roman Catholic cathedral was built in the 12th century and today declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The point is that this church is already on the four pilgrimage routes of St. James to Spain . For many centuries the cathedral was repeatedly destroyed both during the Norman conquest, and because of religious wars, but fragments of the primary Neu structure can still be seen during visual inspection . Recovered fragments and superstructure of later centuries illustrate the shift in the dominant church architecture style: here you can see the typical Romanesque and Gothic details, and the bell tower built in 1835 . reflects even three subspecies Gothic .
Inside the cathedral one can admire the remarkable organ of the work of Stolz, created in 1855 in Paris. According to legend, the organ was acquired by the Empress Eugenia specially for the cathedral, which previously had no own instrument. Also, more than remarkable rich painting of the cathedral arches, which depict the apostles, the patriarchs, the kings of Israel and the first martyrs of Agen, who suffered for the Christian faith.
The old town center quite medieval buildings and cobbled streets to amuse romantically inclined tourists . Here in narrow alleys and small squares one can find uniform pearls of architecture of different periods . One of them is the old church of Our Lady of Jacobin . The convention was built in the middle of the 13th century and now it is one of the few surviving examples of the Dominican architectural style in France . In 1585 g ., during the religious wars, Marguerite Valois turned the church into a fortified castle (Queen Margo was an ardent Catholic, while her husband was a Huguenot) . Later the monastery was used as a prison, and even later was completely destroyed: only the church remained, where now an exhibition space is organized .
Another interesting city church is Saint-Elier, dedicated to the Holy Trinity . It is distinguished by unusual statues installed in front of the entrance: the right depicts Moses, and the left - St. Peter . @ Beautiful and Jasmi Square , named after one of the most famous Languedoc poets of the 19th century . And the main shopping street of modern Agen is the Republic boulevard, built in the late 19th century . It is crossed by Cornier Street, the main city street from the 13th to the 19th century . Recently it was restored, and here you can see the magnificent houses of merchants and rich people, built in Gothic or Romanesque style with beautiful arcades .
The Tower of Notre Dame du Chapelle is the oldest of monuments that can be seen in the city. Its lower tier is made of stone, and the upper one is made of bricks. Initially, the tower was part of the city fortifications and in the 11th century formed the city wall of Agen. Later it was used by Benedictine monks. And the oldest of the private houses of Agen is the house of the Seneschal, on Puy de Somon Street; it was built in the 14th century
The Channel of the Two Seas connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and empties into the Garonne in Agen. Above it, the famous city bridge was built, which was completed in 1849 after 17 years of construction. The height of the bridge is about 10 m, and the length is 530 m, and this is the second longest bridge of the country after the Briard Bridge. It was built from the famous Quercy stone. The bridge allowed the boatmen to carry barges laden with Mediterranean goods under it
Today any tourist who visited Agen considers it necessary to walk along the bridge, which is only a few minutes walk from the city center. Especially since it involves a pleasant walk along the picturesque city embankments. On the way, you should also look at the former Gravier island: in the Middle Ages it was here that the largest fairs took place, not only the city, but the whole region. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the island was turned into a long esplanade.
- Enter the covered market, which is directly opposite the tourist office. The organic food market opens on Saturdays at Letye Square
- Find an Art Nouveau house - a rarity for the south of France in general and an extreme rarity for Agen, built in 1901
- Visit the prune museum located in Granges-sur-Lo near Agen
- Visit the place of Muara, 10 km south of the city, to admire the beauty of the Romanesque church of Notre-Dame de Moire.
- Go up the hill to the Hermitage to see the panorama of Agen from above.
The Agen Museum of Fine Arts boasts a location in four beautiful historic buildings Lei, built in the period from the 15th to the 16th centuries: this is the Hotel d'Estrad, the Hotel Montluc, the Hotel Vor and the Hotel Verge . And besides - about twenty exhibition halls with a variety of artifacts, pieces of furniture and sculptures, the earliest of which relate to prehistoric times . One of the undisputed pearls of the collection is the Gallo-Roman statue of Venus; hands and head sculptures were lost, but in this form it is a true masterpiece . In the gallery of paintings you can admire a few hundred works, among which there are even a few pictures of Goya . In addition, the museum can get acquainted with the picturesque canvases local artists .
Near the Museum of Fine Arts there is a round building of the theater, built in Italian style with large windows, and next to it stands the unusual church of Notre-Dame du Bourges: it is distinguished by a specific triangular shape and a unique bell tower. Unlike most stone buildings in Agen, the church was built of brick.
Book popular Agen hotels at the best prices
| Residence Astoria from 5,509 rubles Agen 1350, Avenue Du Midi | Appart 'City Agen from 3 099 rubles Agen 34, Rue La Fayette | Stim'Otel from 4,476 rubles Agen 105 Bd du president Carnot |
| Logis Hôtel Le Périgord from 2 892 rubles Agen 42 Cours du 14 Juillet |
Cuisine of Agen
Agen bears the proud name of the capital of prunes .According to legend, in the 7th century the plum was brought here by the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, although a more plausible version suggests that these fruits were grown in the region no earlier than the 12th century . In fact, prunes are not cooked in the city, but in neighboring villages, and then taken to Agen, which gives the product a geographical name . Local prunes are collected in the interval from mid-August to mid-September and dried to days . Given dry fruit is served as a dessert (for example, in the form of mashed potatoes or pasta ) or in ka (steeped in armagnac) . Every September a large prune festival with rock concerts and degustations takes place in the city .
Neighborhoods of Agen
Not far from Agen, in Kolerak Saint-Cyr, there is a big interesting park Vezhetal. Here plants and flowers are planted from five continents, and in terms of the park there is a Zen garden, a garden of exotic plants and a botanical garden where you can admire very rare specimens of the flora. To the north-east of the city, in Lakapelle Biron, is the Ciel park with a zoo, various gardens, waterfalls, a farm, a duck pond and a mini golf.
Those who are ready for longer trips are advised to travel from Agen to Condom, which can be reached by car in three quarters of an hour . The main cathedral of Kondoma is an interesting eclectic building in which all sorts of styles were mingled during endless rebuilding, destruction and subsequent restorations . This formed a very specific and even illogical appearance of the church, the interior which nevertheless looks very harmonious and beautiful . Condom is no longer in Aquitaine, but in Gascony, and going there, it will be insulting not to glance into the neighboring town Osh . It was there that the captain of the royal musketeers D'Artagnan . But the monument to the three musketeers "One for All" is not set in Osh, but just in Kondoma .