Porte-du-Quercy is a commune in the Lot, in Occitan region, 35 km south-west of Cahors.
It was officially created on 1 January 2019 following the merger of Boulvé, its seat (193 inhabitants), Fargues (152 inhabitants), St. Matré (131 inhabitants) and Saux (104 inhabitants), and therefore account total around 600 inhabitants.
Its territory of 49 square kilometers borders the departments of Lot-et-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne, belonging to the natural region of Quercy Blanc, so named because of its limestone soil.
The four villages and hamlets that have a surround them discreetly hilly land largely dedicated to winemaking, in the Cahors appellation. The cultivation of cereals (wheat, corn), and since the nineteenth century that fruits and vegetables are also present.
The new resort attracts in summer many tourists because of its mild climate, its colorful heritage and an enabling environment beautiful hikes. Near famous sites (Puy l'Eveque, Montcuq), a detour is necessary.
A round up of the villages now united in the same town can begin with the Boulvé which has an interesting heritage.
The little village grew around the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Romanesque. The building, however, was remodeled several times. There neighbor an old fortress, sometimes called the Chateau de Lalande.
Besides a nice laundry on the road of Saint-Matré, see also the amazing Saint-Saturnin church with its bell-(shaped wall) in the hamlet of Ségos and the Sainte-Madeleine chapel on Creyssens, basic Romanesque but rebuilt in the fifteenth century and has a singularity in its chorus is a spring. Finally, do not forget the fountain Theron that adjoins a wash.
In the village of Fargues that surround wooded or vine-covered hillsides, no one counts less than four towers! Y have been high indeed St. Peter's church with a vaulted apse-dome and a triumphal arch, the St. Lawrence Chapel Farguettes, built on a hill, which has a Romanesque apse and arched openings, St. Nicolas church Bovila whose Romanesque foundations date back to the eleventh century but was rebuilt in the nineteenth and finally the small but charming chapel St. Bartholomew, in the valley of Mascayroles, with a belfry Wall.
In the village of Saint-Matré, where production now complete olive oil wine growing, adding to the charm of the landscape with over 1,000 olive trees that surround the lavender plants, it will be appreciated to discover St. Mary source to water once renowned for its therapeutic properties: a fountain and wash house, on the site have been restored.
See also, the fountain of Sautadou and the hamlet Coulourgues St. Benedict Chapel in Romanesque style, built in the twelfth century and well preserved. Note the font of the seventeenth century, the old pavement and the wonderful wooden structure characteristic of medieval craftsmanship.
A Saux, finally, the beautiful St. Andrew's Church wants the pride of the village. It dates from the twelfth century but remains of the original building burned during the Hundred Years War the apse. The church has indeed been rebuilt in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, then with a nave of three bays and side chapels. The whole is topped by an elegant bell tower but imposing itself flanked by a turret housing a stairway. Protected as historical monuments since 1972, the church has a baroque furniture, the major part is a gilded wooden altarpiece.
Near the small town, the castle of Aix (or Ays), former seat of a lordship, was rebuilt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and it hosts today guesthouses, exhibitions and receptions.
In terms of leisure sports and "nature", besides the possibility to enjoy petanque, available on the new town and its villages several thematic hiking trails, dedicated to small heritage elements, streams and fountains and well safe in the vineyard. Tasting breaks can obviously be programmed to producers. Moreover, certain circuits may rally more extensive trails leading to St. Jacques. Maps and information +33 5 65 22 94 04.
