Figeac
What was once a small medieval village beside the River Célé has become a go-ahead town at the cutting edge of the aeronautical industry.
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Figeac in the east of the Lot, a town with a rich historical and cultural heritage.
The origins of Figeac date back to 830 when Pépin 1 of Aquitaine founded the Abbey Saint-Sauveur. In the 12th century the town became a flourishing trading centre thanks to its position at the crossroads of the Lot, Cantal and Aveyron. Even today, it is still a popular stopover on the Pilgrim Way to Santiago de Compostela.
Figeac – an exceptional historical heritage.
The Art and History town of Figeac well deserves its place among the 18 Grand Sites of the Midi-Pyrénées region. The town has many totally-preserved buildings like churches, houses and even entire streets. Among the most famous religious edifices are the pilgrim’s church of Saint-Sauveur founded in 838 and the church of Notre-Dame-du-Puy, a Romanesque church which was the seat of a Brotherhood of Saint James. There are numerous medieval houses which once belonged to merchants, with arcades, sculpted facades and 'solelhos’ (open-air attics). The finest examples are the Maison du Griffon on the Place Champollion, the oldest, preserved house in the town, the Maison dite de la Monnaie opposite, and the Palais Balène a few little streets away.
Visitors have no time to be bored in Figeac ! There are so many interesting places to see and admire. Like all medieval towns, Figeac has several bridges : Pont du Pin, Pont Gambetta and Pont du Gué. It also has some exclusive buildings like « les Aiguilles », two tall stone obelisks in the area around the town : Aiguille du Cingle and Aiguille de Lissac or de Nayrac. There are also some fascinating squares, full of surprises, like the Place des Écritures and the Place Carnot.
Place des Ecritures
In the square known as the Place des Ecritures, the ground features a gigantic reproduction of the Rosetta Stone with three types of writing : hieroglyphics, Demotic and Ancient Greek. It was made by Joseph Kosuth and commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Figeac Town Council in 1990 to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Champollon.
Musée Champollion
Figeac pays tribute to its famous son, Jean Champollon, famous discoverer of hieroglyphics in a splendid museum dedicated to forms of writing from around the world. Born in Figeac on 23 December 1790, the celebrated scholar is without doubt the most illustrious native of the medieval town. Every summer, an original exhibition is held with a different theme of writing.
Not just an Art and History town, a whole region too !
Figeac was delighted to become an Art and History town in 1990 and then, in December 2017, the capital of a wider district known as Pays de Grand Figeac including the Célé and Lot Valleys. There are 189 Art and History towns and districts in France, officially recognised by the Ministry of Culture.
Discover the Lot with Gîtes de France Lot : Cahors, Rocamadour, Gouffre de Padirac, Grotte du Pech Merle (Cabrerets), Reptiland, Château de Castelnau-Bretenoux (Prudhomat)"
