On the right bank of the Dordogne, the existence of Port-Sainte-Foy is directly related to the 13th century bastide, Sainte-Foy en Agenais, founded in 1255 by Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of King Saint-Louis.
Port in deep waters of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, this small village of fishermen and craftsmen and traders trades water, wine and vine, became the commune of Port-Sainte-Foy with the fusion of the three parishes of Canet, Tizac and Rouquette, and more recently, Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt with that of Ponchapt in 1960.
Coming from the river and its activities, the town has been a place of passage and life from the dawn of humanity as evidenced by the many flints or homes discovered, as well as the remarkable Gallo-Roman mosaics of Canet.
The village has had its heyday and commercial heyday with the golden age of shipping on the Dordogne; an intense sea life animated then the quays and stalls bordering the "river-hope": oak and chestnut woods from the high country, wines leaving for the ocean gate.
With the arrival of the railway, then the road development and finally the evolution of the large distribution, agriculture is now confined to the slopes; Viticulture is by tradition the main and almost unique component. The red wines benefit from the Bergerac AOC appellation and the whites from the Montravel and Côtes de Montravel appellations. The valley has become an area of commercial activity and residence.
The town of Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt is twinned with Plobsheim in Alsace. The two communes have been forming bonds of friendship and fraternity since 1940, when many families from Plobsheim were welcomed in Port-Sainte-Foy in their exile against the German occupation.
