Luzech

A general view of Luzech

Coat of arms

Luzech

Location within Occitanie region

Luzech

Coordinates: 44°28′45″N 1°17′16″E / 44.4792°N 1.2878°ECoordinates: 44°28′45″N 1°17′16″E / 44.4792°N 1.2878°E

Country

Luzech
(chef-lieu)

Communauté de communes de la Vallée du Lot et du Vignoble

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Jean-Claude Baldy

Area¹

22.13 km² (8.54 sq mi)

Population (1999)²

1,647

• Density

74/km² (190/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

46182 /46140

Elevation

84–323 m (276–1,060 ft)
(avg. 104 m or 341 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Luzech is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.

Luzech is a small town of around 1,650 inhabitants, located in the Quercy at the heart of the vineyard of Cahors wine making region (AOC) on the ancient line Monsempron – Libos – Cahors between Fumel and Cahors. Encircled by the Lot River, Luzech is a peninsula, an inescapable stage on the circuit "Empowered by the Lot". A dam, the Barrage de Luzech was constructed in the late 1940s. Animated by very active associations, the town offers many socio-cultural and sporting activities, such as orienteering, fishing and kayaking. Luzech is situated on an isthmus formed by the Lot, 90 m wide (or 300 Roman feet), bordered to the north by the hill of the Impernal (150 m) to the south by that of the Pistoule ( 70 m) that the river bypasses a loop, called "cingle" (meander). The central square (main street) is built on the site of an old canal, created for navigation in 1840, and filled in between 1940 and 1950. It shortened the navigation on the Lot by around 5 km. As part of the navigation project of the Lot as far as Aiguillon, Luzech is currently at an impassable barrier and many projects are underway to advance it.

The place name Luzech could be based on Gallic names such as Lucetios, Luteus or Lutos followed by -ecia 1.

Luzech was already inhabited in prehistoric times, including the Pech de la Nène. Before the Roman conquest, the Gauls built an oppidum on the Impernal, naturally fortified by its rugged character.

Luzech was among the few places in the Lot considered to be the famous fortified camp of Uxellodunum. The hypothesis defended once upon a time by Napoleon III, who finally determined the location of Puy Issolud was still defended, with some notoriety by a local scholar, Emile Albouy in 1957. However, recent excavations of the Fountain Loulié in Puy Issolud led to a scientific consensus on the issue, even if individuals still defended sites other than that of Puy d’Issolud. For this reason the visitors will use Uxellodunum street to go to the administration building and will park in the Square of Lucterius who was the heroic leader of this resistance, and whose majestic bust is located at the entrance to the Cahors library.

In the Middle Ages, the walls hemmed the town in, on all sides, built at the foot of the castle, the oldest mention of which goes back to the same century. Several gates gave access to the town, crossed from north to south by the Main street from the Ruffier gate to the Ditch gate. This route opens onto many streets.

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Wikipedia