The second largest city in the department, Villeneuve-sur-Lot has long not had the fate it deserved. This double bastide straddling the Lot was created in 1253 by Alphonse de Poitiers, Count of Toulouse, who "negotiated" with an iron fist with the abbot of Eysses for the left bank and the lord of Pujols for the opposite side... erecting a stronghold here in the Haut-Agenais region, whose two towers - called Paris and Pujols - still circumscribe the city's perimeter today. Of a rebellious nature, the Villeneuvois was punished in the 17th century, forced to pull down its fortifications by royal order, fortifications of which nothing remains. In 1642, the Old Bridge was rebuilt following floods which had caused two of its arches to collapse. It was once topped by three defensive towers, built in the 13th century and destroyed in the 16th century. A port of considerable importance, Villeneuve-sur-Lot built at the same time an adjacent chapel, Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont, a small jewel for the drivers of gabarres, the flat-bottomed boats that transported goods on the capricious Lot River. Place Lafayette, formerly Place des Cornières, is the nerve center of the right bank bastide, typical of the square squares of the Southwest. Since the Middle Ages, it is here that the very pleasant Saturday morning market is held (on Tuesday mornings, it takes place in front of the Tour de Paris, Place de la Libération). The arcades of the square are surmounted by finely restored 17th and 18th century houses, which contrast with the more popular left bank, once full of tanners, dyers, tailors and other merchants. That said, the left bank of the Lot houses the baroque-style chapel of the Pénitents blancs, the former place of worship of the brotherhood of the same name. At the end of the 19th century, the galloping industrialization encouraged the construction of a second bridge: the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), made of brick and soon imitated, at the beginning of the 20th century, by the imposing church of Sainte-Catherine in the Romanesque-Byzantine style, designed to replace the old church of the 15th century, judged to be too old. Remains of this forced modernization, the stained glass windows of the new church are partly of the period! Take the Basterou bridge, the latest addition to the Bastide: it will offer you an exceptional view of both banks: the Cale (open-air amphitheater on the banks of the Lot) on the right, and the nautical center on the left, but also of the string of bridges. For those who like panoramic views, go up to the belvedere of Pujols.

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Le pont de la Libération de Villeneuve-sur-lot. Therry - iStockphoto

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