Capdenac

Capdenac is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.

Capdenac
Commune
The town hall in Capdenac
Coat of arms
Location of Capdenac
Capdenac Capdenac
Coordinates: 44°34′54″N 2°04′12″E
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Department	Lot
Arrondissement	Figeac
Canton	Figeac-2
Intercommunality	Grand-Figeac
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Guy Batherosse
Area ^1	10.90 km^2 (4.21 sq mi)
Population  (2017-01-01)[1]	1,105
• Density	100/km^2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	46055 /46100
Elevation	155–369 m (509–1,211 ft) (avg. 298 m or 978 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It has been inhabited since prehistoric times. At one time Capdenac was thought to be identifiable as the Gaulish settlement of Uxellodunum which was besieged by Julius Caesar,[2] but this theory has been discredited.[3]

Geography

The old village of Capdenac is situated on a hill on a ridge which forces a large meander in the River Lot. It is directly west, across the river from the main town of Capdenac-Gare. To the south of Capdenac-Gare is the area of Massip, which is the location of a convent.

Convent during the Second World War

During the Second World War, encouraged by contact with Archbishop Saliège and Monseigneur de Courrège d'Ustou,[4] Sister Denise Bergon arranged for the convent of Notre Dame de Massip in Capdenac (where she was Mother Superior) to shelter some 83 Jewish children at risk due to the Holocaust in France.[5][6] The children were hidden in the convent's boarding school. Apart from Sister Denise, only Sister Marguerite Roques (nurse and mathematics teacher), together with the school's chaplain and two other sisters knew the truth about the children's religious backgrounds.[5] Another source lists the following in the rescue network: Denise Bergon (Soeur Denise), Jeannette Bettelheim (called Don Quich Jeanne Sicard), Louis de Courrèges d'Ustou (Monseigneur de Courrèges), Georges Garel, Marguerite Roques, and Jules Saliège (Monseigneur Saliège).[7]

See also

• Communes of the Lot department

References

1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
2. baron de Walckenaer, Géographie ancienne historique et comparée des Gaules cisalpine et transalpine, p 353, Paris, 1862 (1st edition 1839)
3. (2008-08-06), Uxellodunum: une nouvelle bataille en perspective, La Dépêche du Midi (ladepeche.fr) tr. Uxellodunum: A new battle in perspective (in French)
4. Notre-Dame-de-Massip durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale (WWII) www.ajpn.org (Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période Nazie dans les communes de France), accessed 15 September 2020
5. Hughes, Niamh (2020-09-05). "The daring nun who hid and saved 83 Jewish children". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
6. Clergy Who Rescued or Aided Jews in France www.holocaustrescue.org, accessed 6 September 2020
7. Louise Thèbes www.ajpn.org (Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période Nazie dans les communes de France), accessed 15 September 2020