Pujols, Lot-et-Garonne

The town of Pujols was built on an outcrop atop a steep incline, overlooking the Lot and Masse river valleys. The Abbot Gerbeau, relying on the toponym “At the Palace” (Au Palai) in the town cadaster of 1811, claimed that a palace dating to the High Middle Ages once occupied the western extremity of the outcrop. Pujols seems to have been relatively important at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The city walls were razed however during the Albigensian Crusade in 1229.[2] According to the account of the royal steward of Agenais, Villefavreuse, the town seems to have been rebuilt with difficulty and only partially, while the fortified town of Villeneuve grew in the 1250s due to the arrival of Pujolais chased from Pujols. Sometime in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, the village was fortified with large square slabs of stone, though today there remain only the bell tower gate and the gate of the city (known as the English gate). In 1525, Jean de Pujols and his wife established a chapter of cannons, and built Saint Nicholas Church on the northern side of the town. Towards the beginning of the sixteenth century, the rural Saint-Foy Church was rebuilt within the town’s fortifications. The houses of the sixteenth century were made with stone in half-timbered style.

Information on the evolution of the population size is available through the population censuses of Pujols, which have been conducted since 1793. Beginning in 2006, the official population count of towns has been published annually by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). Currently, the census relies on a method whereby the INSEE collects data little by little from every municipality and town over a five-year period. For municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, a census survey of the entire population is conducted every five years. During the intervening years, the population size is estimated through either interpolation or extrapolation. The first exhaustive census of Pujols using the new method was carried out in 2006. In 2015, the municipality of Pujols consisted of 3,623 inhabitants, a 0.08% decrease from 2010. During the same time period, the population of the Lot-et-Garonne department increased by 0.69%, while the French population overall (minus the department of Mayotte) increased by 2.44%.

Pujols is a member of the organization The Most Beautiful Towns in France. Located in the countryside, Pujols is a calm and peaceful town, yet it is nonetheless a vibrant and pleasant place to live, with many cultural and athletic activities. Pujols also has a municipal pool (the pool of Malbentre), located on Malbentre Street, which complements the municipality’s athletic and leisure activities, as well as those of the municipal community of Greater Villeneuve. In addition, Pujols opened the Museum of Traditional Toys on June 28, 2015, where it is possible to look at and play with several hundred traditional toys.

• The Church of Saint Nicholas – formerly a collegiate church, dating to the fourteenth century.
• The Church of Saint-Foy – registered as a historical monument in 1903.
• The Church of Saint Étienne – registered as a historical monument in 1996.
• Monument to the Fallen – designed by the architect Villefranche-sur-Lot Gaston Rapin in 1922 and sculpted by Antoine Bourlange.
• House on Citadel Street – A house dating back to the sixteenth century and located near the English gate.
• House on Citadel Street – A house dating back to the sixteenth century and located near Saint Nicholas place.
• Fortified castle of Pujols – A fortified military camp was mentioned in 1259. The castle was rebuilt towards the end of the Middle Ages on top of the most vulnerable part of the site, facing the current location of the town hall. It was a rectangular building equipped with one tower on each corner. The castle was demolished in 1829. Some of its stones were used to construct the prison of Elysses. The remains of the walls and the base of the northeast tower are still visible today.
• The Priory of Saint Christopher of Cambes – According to the Abbot Gerbeau, the priory was at one time subject to the Abbey of Chaise-Dieu. The apse of the church is thought to date back to the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth century. The nave and the church gate were rebuilt in the sixteenth century. The other buildings of the priory were located north of the church, around a courtyard. In 1551, the living quarters were deemed uninhabitable It was rebuilt sometime during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• The Church of Saint Pierre-ès-Liens of Doumillac – This church, mentioned in 1271, was rebuilt sometime at the end of the fifteenth century or the beginning of the sixteenth century. It was originally dedicated to Our Lady, then to Saint Pierre in 1520. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1831. The vaulted ceiling of the nave, the side chapels, and the roofing were all redone in 1882 by the architect Adolphe Gilles.
• The Church of Saint-Martin of Noaillac – This church, mentioned as early as 1271, was rebuilt in the first half of the sixteenth century. The two chapels built on both sides of the nave in the sixteenth century form a transept. The church was fortified during the Wars of Religion. Three chapels were added to the sides of the church in the beginning of the seventeenth century. A sacristy was constructed in 1716. The church was repaired during the 1880s.

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  Northeast tower, a vestige of the fortified castle.
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  Sixteenth century house, located on Citadel Street, near the English gate.
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  Sixteenth century house, located on Citadel Street, near Saint Nicholas place.
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  The town hall.
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  Monument to the Fallen, facing the town hall.

Bernard Lebrun – A Michelin star chef, and the first from the region of Villeneuve-sur-Lot.