CAHORS, a town in the south of France, formerly the capital of Cahourcin or Upper Quercy, and now of the department of Lot, on the high road between Paris and Toulouse, 358 miles S.W. from Paris, and 60 miles north of Toulouse, in 44° 27' N. lat., 1° 24' E. long. It stands on the right bank of the River Lot, on a rocky peninsula formed by a bend in the stream, and communicates with the opposite shore by three bridges,—one, the Pont Valendré, built in the 13th century, and surmounted by three massive towers. In the more ancient part of the town the streets are narrow and the houses antique; but in the modern and more elevated quarter there are many handsome buildings, with terraces which command an extensive view. The most remarkable building is the cathedral, built in the 11th or 12th century, and occupying the site, if not actually consisting of the remains, of an ancient Roman temple. Besides it, there is the theological seminary, the prefecture (formerly an episcopal palace), an academy, a theatre, a public library, and a monument erected to Fénelon in front of the cathedral. Cahors is the see of a bishop, and the seat of judicial and commercial tribunals of the first class. Its university, founded by Pope John XXII. in 1332, was incorporated with that of Toulouse in 1751. The principal articles of manufacture are stoneware, cotton-yarn, woollen stuffs, and paper; and it has a considerable traffic in oil, hemp, flax, hides, truffles, and a strong deeply-coloured wine, which is made in the neighbouring districts. Population of the town in 1872, 13,061, and of the commune 14,593....
Cahors is the ancient Divona, afterwards called Civitas Cadurcorum, from the Celtic tribe of which it was the capital, and still exhibits traces of its greatness during the Roman sway. The most conspicuous remains are those of an immense aqueduct, which conveyed the water to the city from a distance of about 19 miles by a precipitous route along the mountain sides, and crossed the valley of Larroque-des-arcs on a bridge 180 feet high. There are also remains of baths and a theatre, a marble altar in front of the prefecture (erected, according to the inscription, in honour of Lucterius Leo); and a celebrated fountain, supposed to be the fountain Divona, and now called Des Chartreux, from the Carthusian convent to which it has been attached.
After the decline of the Roman empire Cahors passed in succession into the hands of the Goths the Franks, the Saracens, and the Normans; and in the 12th century it was the subject of severe fighting between the English and French. In 1572 the Protestant party in the town were strong enough to prevent their fellow-citizens following the example of Pans; and yet a few years later, in 1580, we find the opposition to Henry of Navarre so violent that he only made himself master of the place after several days of conflict. The bishops of Cahors, who date from the 4th century, had formerly also the title of count, and used to lay their sword and gauntlets on the altar when about to officiate. During the Middle Ages the town is said to have been a great seat of the Caorsini (Cawertschen or Cauder-Wälsche), who preceded the Lombards as usurers and moneychangers.
See Chaudruc de Crazannes, Coup d'oeil sur les monuments historiques du departement du Lot ; Dufour, La commune de Cahors au moyen âge, 1846.
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