Cahors

Cahors occupies a peninsula enclosed by a great bend of the Lot. Bridges and river traffic sustained a prosperous town governed by its consuls alongside the authority of its bishop. The consuls began the fortified Valentré bridge in 1308, adding a third crossing to the medieval city. Its arches and towers guarded the western approach to the peninsula, where merchants and travellers crossed the broad river.

In 1332 Pope John XXII, a native of Cahors, founded a university in his home city. Its schools of law, theology and medicine added learning to the town's commercial and ecclesiastical importance. The bridge and the university alike testify to the ambitions of a city whose influence extended well beyond the confines of its river bend.