Between green tourism and cultural tourism, Figeac is a choice vacation destination. An hour from Cahors, in the Lot, the town cultivates an exceptional patrimony and honours the memory of the Pharaohs. Figeac will in effect take you in the tracks of Champollion, who deciphered hieroglyphics and was born here in 1790.
Figeac will charm you with its vitality and its style, but also by the beauty of its surrounding countryside: mountain reliefs reaching north to the Massif Central, pastoral landscapes of the Quercy causses, the meanderings and cliffs of the splendid Célé valley...
Figeac’s enviable location has made it a prosperous town. In contact with the trading routes that fed France’s Midi, it became a trading force in the 12th century and a stop on the routes to Santiago de Compostela.
The historic heart of Figeac offers a landscape of a rare harmony. Here one lives and dwells and shops. It is in this warm atmosphere that one finds a remarkable preserved collection of houses and palaces dating from the Middle Ages, built from the 12th to the 14th centuries by Figeac’s rich merchants.
There are arcades of medieval boutiques with "soleilhos", the open attics where fruits were dried, and one can see from the sandstone façades the evolution of architecture from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Your steps will lead you to the Place des Ecritures (Writing Square) where there is an air of exoticism: Champollion and Egypt are not far. The square is completely covered by a huge slab of black granite with hieroglyphics. It represents the “Rosetta stone”, the piece of Egyptian stele that allowed Champollion (1790-1832) to decipher the writing of the Pharaohs.
Dominating the Place des Ecritures, the Champollion Museum – Writings of the world – is located in the family home of the Egyptologist. It gathers together collections, made up of writing objects and characters of the whole world that express the marvellous diversity of cultures. The museum, unique in Europe, opens up to the town through a façade of “1000 letters”, all in copper and glass, creating light signs on the coloured floors of the exhibition rooms. A fascinating voyage with Champollion both the hero and the guide.
Keys to discovery
> Begin your discovery of Figeac, town of art and history, at the terraces of Puy, that give a spectacular view of the town. The walk through the streets, following the keys to the town, is also to experience in the evenings, by torchlight, throughout summer...
> Experience Figeac on Saturday mornings at the market: spread throughout the medieval town, colours, southern atmosphere and Quercy products are to be experienced.
> From Figeac, the river Célé leads you to a splendid valley, between limestone cliffs and a riverside path, along the route to Santiago de Compostela.
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