Travel Guide Gourdon

Gourdon is the capital of the Bouriane region, as evidenced by the Grotte de Cougnac, where man settled very early on. But it was the Middle Ages that marked the apogee of Gourdon's lordly and artisanal power. Perched on a mound where only the remains of the ancient castrum remain, on the border between Quercy and Périgord, the village was the last fortified town in the county of Toulouse. Gourdon was the seat of one of the most powerful families in Quercy, as the town occupied a position that implicated it in the wars that ravaged the region between the 12th and 17th centuries. The lords of Gourdon left their mark on history mainly through Bertrand de Gourdon, who is credited with the murder of Richard the Lionheart, who seized the town in 1189. In 1562, the Huguenots pillaged the town and destroyed its monasteries. All that remains of the castle and ramparts, razed in the 17th century, is the circular shape of the promenades. A stronghold of the Bouriane, the wooded region of the Lot, Gourdon is certainly the most Perigordian of towns. It attracts visitors for its art of living, its promenades and its cafés. In summer, numerous cultural events keep the town lively. Culinary traditions are still firmly rooted here. The entire Gourdonnais region is rich in a culinary heritage whose continuity is assured: duck breeding, foie gras, mique levée and more. It's a condensation of all the flavors of the Lot that you'll find on the farms of Gourdonnais.