Figeac
The Vía Podiensis
Figeac is the first real city you've encountered since Le Puy-en-Velay, and after days of hamlets and tiny villages, it can feel almost overwhelming. Take your time. This medieval merchant town on the River Cele is one of the genuine highlights of the route, and it deserves at least a half-day of wandering.
Start with the architecture. Figeac's medieval center is remarkably intact, and its defining feature is the soleilho: open covered galleries under the rooftops where merchants dried cloth, skins, and fruit. The best examples line Rue de Balene and Rue Caviale, where 14th- and 15th-century houses still have their original wooden galleries, timber frames, and stone carvings. At street level, medieval arcades frame the shopfronts. The whole center is classified as a Ville d'Art et d'Histoire.
The town's most famous son is Jean-Francois Champollion, who was born here in 1790 and went on to crack the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Musee Champollion occupies his birthplace on Place Champollion, its facade covered with 1,000 letters from writing systems around the world. The museum explores 5,000 years of human written communication, not just Champollion's Egyptian work. Behind the museum, the Place des Ecritures is a courtyard floored with an 11-by-8-meter reproduction of the Rosetta Stone in black granite, created by American artist Joseph Kosuth in 1991 for the bicentenary of Champollion's birth.
The Eglise Saint-Sauveur is the last remnant of the Benedictine abbey founded in 838. Its Romanesque nave dates to the 11th and 12th centuries, with a Gothic transept and choir added in the 13th. Climb the hill to Notre-Dame-du-Puy for panoramic views over the city's red tile roofs and the Cele valley.
Other sights worth your time: the Knights Templar Commandery on Rue Gambetta, a 13th-century complex where pilgrims were sheltered and fed, now open for self-guided tours in English; the Hotel de la Monnaie on Place Vival, a 13th-century merchant mansion that houses the tourist office; and the Aiguilles, large octagonal stone obelisks that once marked the boundaries of the abbey's territory.
The Saturday market at Place Carnot and Place Champollion is one of the best on the route. Quality Quercy produce: seasonal fruit, saffron, cheese, lamb. It covers most of the center.
Full services: supermarkets, banks, ATMs, pharmacies, hospital, doctors, post office. The train station has connections to Brive, Toulouse, Aurillac, and Rodez, plus a night train to Paris-Austerlitz. Wide range of accommodation from gites to hotels.
According to legend, King Pepin the Short founded a monastery here in 753 after witnessing pigeons flying in the shape of a cross. The historical record begins more solidly in 838, when Benedictine monks from Conques established the Abbey Saint-Sauveur. The town grew around the abbey.
In 1096, Pope Urban II attached Figeac's abbey to Cluny, resolving a longstanding rivalry with Conques. By the 12th century, Figeac was a flourishing trade city and an established stop on the Way of Saint James. The Knights Templar set up a commandery in 1187. In 1302, King Philippe IV granted Figeac the privilege of minting money.
The 13th and 14th centuries were the peak of prosperity. International trade in luxury goods brought wealth that merchants poured into the ornate mansions you can still see in the old town. The Hundred Years' War brought mercenary bands, and in 1576, Protestants took Figeac during the Wars of Religion, destroying abbey relics, artworks, and buildings.
Jean-Francois Champollion was born here on 23 December 1790. A child prodigy in languages, he read Coptic, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic. On 14 September 1822, he cracked the hieroglyphic code, writing to himself: J'ai l'affaire! He became curator of the Egyptian collection at the Louvre, led an archaeological expedition to Egypt, and received a specially created chair at the College de France. He died at 41.
Modern Figeac has an unexpected industrial dimension: Collins Aerospace and Figeac Aero are major local employers, which means this is a living, working town, not a museum piece.
From Figeac the route heads west toward Cahors, crossing the limestone causse country of the Lot. The terrain is different from anything you've walked so far: dry plateaux, deep river valleys, and the distinctive stone architecture of the Quercy region.
Accommodation in Figeac.
| Gîte Le Passiflore 16*€ 6 |
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| Gîte et chambre d'hôtes Chemin des Anges 24*€ 7 |
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| Gîte d´étape Le Pas si Loin... 20€ 15 |
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| Gîte d´étape du Gua 15-19€ 15 |
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| Gîte d´étape Le Coquelicot 15€ 15 |
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| Gîte d´étape Chez Célia 15+€ 7 |
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| Gîte et chambre d'hôtes Le Soleilho 17*€ 6 |
| Gîte du Carmel Donativo€ 8 |
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