Lot-et-Garonne is the department of fortified towns and prunes, a land of hills and rivers situated in the heart of Gascony and the Périgord, which for centuries was a battleground in the Franco-English rivalry and which boasts a remarkable collection of medieval towns founded by the two crowns to control the region.
Agen, its capital, is the city of prunes and rugby, but also home to a Museum of Fine Arts housing one of the largest collections of Goya outside Spain. Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Monflanquin, Penne-d’Agenais, Mézin, Vianne, Castelmoron… The bastides of Lot-et-Garonne dot the valleys of the Lot, Dropt and Garonne with their grid-like layouts and characteristic covered squares.
Bonaguil Castle, a 15th–16th-century fortress straddling the Lot and Lot-et-Garonne departments, is the region’s most iconic castle. Duras, whose castle overlooks the hillsides of the Dropt, Montréal, and Nérac — residence of the Court of Navarre and Marguerite d’Angoulême — bear witness to the richness of a heritage often overlooked by visitors in a hurry to reach the Périgord or the Gers.