Pont Valentré

Three square towers rise forty metres above the Lot, standing on a stone deck that crosses the river on six pointed arches: the Pont Valentré is among the most complete fortified bridges surviving from medieval Europe, and it still looks ready to close its gates against an approaching army. The crossing is about 138 metres long and only five metres wide, a narrow, defensible passage rather than a broad thoroughfare.

The townspeople of Cahors resolved to build it in April 1306, and work began in June 1308. The bridge carried traffic from around 1350, yet the whole fortified structure was finished only in 1378, some seventy years after the first stones were laid. Those decades coincided with mounting rivalry between the French and English crowns that would become the Hundred Years' War, which explains the military character of the design: the towers served as gatehouses and lookouts, and the bridge was originally closed off at both ends. The fortification at the western end has not come down to us. A thorough restoration directed by the architect Paul Gout between 1867 and 1879 gave the bridge much of its present crisp appearance. Since 1998 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

A well-known local legend surrounds the central tower. The story goes that the master builder, despairing at the slow pace of work, sold his soul to the Devil in return for help, then escaped the bargain by asking him to carry water in a sieve. In revenge, the tale says, the Devil's imps return every night to pull out the last stone of the middle tower. During the nineteenth-century restoration a small carved devil was set into the masonry of that tower, clinging to the corner as if still trying to prise the stone loose.

Cahors itself, capital of the Lot department and historic heart of the Quercy, sits inside a tight meander of the river, ringed by dry limestone hills. Founded by the Romans as Divona, it was the birthplace of Pope John XXII and is known for its dark Malbec-based wine and for the Romanesque Saint-Étienne Cathedral. The bridge, now open only to people on foot, is the emblem of the town.

Getting there

The bridge lies on the western edge of central Cahors, about 0.6 km from the town centre, and Cahors has its own railway station. The nearest airport is Brive–Vallée de la Dordogne (BVE), about 66 km away in a straight line; Toulouse lies roughly 115 km to the south.