Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is the former capital of one of the four Viscounts of Quercy and is on the French pilgrimage route, Way of St. James. Coming from Cabrerets pilgrims would pass through and then continue to Cahors, visiting St Stephen's cathedral. It is one of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France  and its position on a steep cliff 100m above the river, originally selected for defence, has helped make the town one of the most popular tourist destinations

It is likely that the occupation of this rocky escarpment overlooking the left bank of the Lot, facing a circle of cliffs, is extremely ancient but in more recent times (from the C13th)  the village and the land surrounding belonged to the Cardaillac family, of which there were three branches -  Cardaillac, Gourdon, Castelnau and La Popie. The families variously took different sides in the Albigensian campaign and the wars of religion.

In 1471 , Louis XI had the castle of Raymond de Cardaillac dismantled, as he had taken sides against him by supporting the Duke of Berry in the War of Public Welfare . The castle was rebuilt during the reign of Charles VIII , who granted great favours to Raymond de Cardaillac , in compensation for the damage caused during the reign of Louis XI.

Around 1920 the post-impressionist painter Henri Martin who had settled in the Lot "discovered" the village and represented it in two of his paintings, thus making it known to artists and art lovers. The village then began to attract tourists. In the 1950s, the poet and writer André Breton established his summer residence in Henri Martin’s house, L'auberge des Mariniers, describing his "love at first sight" for "Saint-Cirq ablaze with Bengal lights appeared like an impossible rose in the night”

In the Saint-Circ locality . . .