Cahors | |
|---|---|
Prefecture and commune | |
Valentré bridge | |
| Coordinates: 44°26′54″N 1°26′29″E / 44.4483°N 1.4414°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitanie |
| Department | Lot |
| Arrondissement | Cahors |
| Canton | Cahors-1 Cahors-2 Cahors-3 |
| Intercommunality | Le Grand Cahors |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jean-Marc Vayssouze-Faure |
| Area 1 | 72.48 km2 (27.98 sq mi) |
| Population (2014) | 19,630 |
| • Density | 270/km2 (700/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Cadurciens |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 46042 /46000 |
| Elevation | 105–332 m (344–1,089 ft) (avg. 122 m or 400 ft) |
| Website | www.mairie-cahors.fr |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Cahors (Occitan: Caors) is a commune in southwestern France. It is in Occitanie. Cahors is the prefecture (capital) of the Lot department. It is also the capital of 3 cantons: Cahors-1, Cahors-2 and Cahors-3.
Cahors was the capital of the old province of Quercy and the people of this city are known, in French, as cadurciens (women: cadurciennes). This name comes from the old name of the city, Carduca.
Cahors is an ancient town. The people that inhabited the area at the time of the Roman conquest were called Carduci and so the Romans named the town as Divona or Divona Cadurcorum, "Divona of the Cadurci"; Divona was a source of water, now called "fontaine des Chartreux". The word Cahors comes from Cadurcorum.
Cahors is located in the southwest of France, in the old province of Quercy, in the valley of the Lot river, and is found in a peninsula (French: presqu'île) formed by an U-shaped meander of that river which gives its name to the department.
It has an area of 72.48 km2 (27.98 sq mi) and its average altitude is 219 m (719 ft); at the city hall, the altitude is 122 m (400 ft).
The commune is at 115 km (71 mi) north of Toulouse and is surrounded by the communes Mercuès, Calamane, Pradines, Arcambal, Lamagdelaine, Laroque-des-Arcs, Trespoux-Rassiels, Labastide-Marnhac, Le Montat and Flaujac-Poujols.
The climate of Cahors, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with temperate summers.
With a population of 19,630, Cahors has a population density of 271 inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Cahors

Cahors forms, together with the commune Pradines, the urban area of Cahors, with a population of 23,090 inhabitants (2013) and an area of 81.2 km2 (31.4 sq mi). This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Cahors, formed by 44 communes with a population of 44,255 inhabitants (2013) and an area of 712.9 km2 (275.3 sq mi).
Cahors is the prefecture of the Lot department, the capital of the arrondissement of Cahors and the administrative centre (French: chef-lieu) of the Cahors-1, Cahors-2 and Cahors-3 cantons.
It is part of the intercommunality Le Grand Cahors (French: Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Cahors).

Some places of interest are: