Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.
Name
The name of the town derives from the ("Noviomagus of the
Lexovii"). The town was originally known in
Common Celtic as italic=yes ("New Field", "New Market"), which was Latinized as italic=yes. Owing to the large number of similarly named cities, however, it was necessary to specify where this one was located. The local French demonym italic=yes derives from the Latin as well.
History
Antiquity
Lisieux was the capital of the Lexovii. In his work,
Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallic
oppidum, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as
le Castellier,
[François Neveux, ''Bayeux et Lisieux, villes épiscopales de Normandie à la fin du Moyen Age (Éditions Lys, 1996)] located to the southwest of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
Middle Ages
Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II of England was staying in Lisieux when he announced plans to marry Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152,
and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards. In the 14th century, the triple scourges of
Black Death, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc,
Pierre Cauchon, became a bishop of Lisieux after Joan's death, and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Events
-
4th century: Presence of the Germanic laeti, auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania.
-
1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried.
-
1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town.
-
1897: Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux. In 1925, she would be canonized as "St. Thérèse of Lisieux".
-
1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul Cornu.
-
1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux.
-
6/7 June 1944: An Allied bombardment killed 800 people and destroyed two thirds of the town.
-
23 August 1944: Liberation by the Allied troops.
-
1960: Lisieux merged with the Saint-Jacques commune.
-
2 June 1980: Pope John-Paul II visited Lisieux.
Geography
Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the river Touques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain.
The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados are made, not forgetting pommeau).
Climate
Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.
Transport
The town of Lisieux is served by a bus network called Lexobus, with 6 routes. The town is also linked to surrounding towns and villages by a network of buses; Bus Verts du Calvados.
The main railway station,
Lisieux station, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, is served by Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the TER Normandie routes. The station appeared in the film
Un singe en hiver by
Henri Verneuil. There is another station on the line to Deauville: Le Grand-Jardin station.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road serving Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville to the north and the department of Orne to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
Religion
Since the
Middle Ages Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven
Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of
Rouen. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The best-known of the Bishops of Lisieux is Pierre Cauchon, who had a decisive influence during the trial of Joan of Arc. He is buried in Lisieux Cathedral.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus who lived in the nearby Carmelites convent has made Lisieux France's second-most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenees town of Lourdes. Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux died in 1897, she was canonized in 1925 and named a doctor of the church by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Administration
Mayors of Lisieux
List of everyone who has held the position of Mayor of Lisieux:
[ Hôtel de ville : Lisieux. Lisieux : Mairie de Lisieux, 2007, d'après A.-J.L. Dingremont, Du corps municipal de Lisieux. Lisieux, J.J. Pigeon, 1849.]
| +List of mayors |
|
| |
| Teacher |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Lawyer |
| |
| |
| Lawyer |
| Industrialist |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Industrialist |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
International relations
Lisieux is twinned with:
Population
, Lisieux is Calvados' third largest commune in terms of population, after Caen and Hérouville-Saint-Clair.
[ Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017, INSEE] Its functional urban area of 55,168 inhabitants is the second largest of the department, after Caen. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known as
Lexoviens.
Sights
About 60 percent of the town was destroyed in 1944, so few of the monuments have been preserved.
Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux
The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux was constructed in honour of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux, who was
Beatification in 1923 and
Canonization in 1925. It was built for pilgrims who came in increasing numbers to venerate the new saint in the town where she had lived and died.
Carmel of Lisieux
It is possible to visit the chapel and exterior of the Carmel or monastery where Thérèse lived, but the remainder of the building is closed to visitors.
[Sanctuary of Lisieux, Carmel, accessed 23 December 2022]
Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet
As its name indicates, the
Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet is situated in the commune of Saint-Germain-de-Livet. It is to be found opposite the village church which dates from the 19th century. The château has been owned by the town of Lisieux since 1958 when it was donated by the Riesener family.
From an architectural point of view the château comprises a half-timbered manor dating from the 15th century and a glazed brick and stone building from the Pré-d'Auge dating from the end of the 16th century.
The chateau combines Middle Ages and Renaissance elements and is surrounded by a moat and a peacock garden.
Lisieux Cathedral
Lisieux Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre) is a rare monument which survived the 1944 allied bombardment. Even though the cathedral has been around since the 6th century, the church of today must have been constructed between 1160 and 1230 by Bishop Arnoul.
From the outset, the architect designed quadripartite rib vaults and flying buttresses, making it one of Normandy's first Gothic buildings. The nave is fairly austere and is inspired by the Gothic style of the Île de France, whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (the chevet, the cupola and the western façade) in Norman style.
It is wrongly claimed that Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and future king of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine at the cathedral in 1152; they married in Poitiers Cathedral. Having been involved in the trial of Joan of Arc, Pierre Cauchon was named as Bishop of Lisieux in 1432 and is buried there.
Town Hall
The town hall (18th century) was formerly a private residence.
Bishop's Garden
French formal garden of the former Bishop's residence, designed by Andre le Notre,
[ Jardin de l'évêché (Spanish), accessed 28 December 2022] recreated in 1837.
[Normandy Tourism, Bishop's Garden, accessed 28 December 2022]
Notable people
- Births
-
Jean-Baptiste Laumonier (1749–1818), surgeon
-
Thomas de Frondeville (1750–1816), politician
-
Yves Leopold Germain Gaston (1803–1863), Sugar production pioneer, known as the "Father of the Sugar Industry" in the Philippines
-
Paul-Louis Target (1821–1908), politician
-
Henry Chéron (1867–1936), mayor of Lisieux (1894–1908; 1932–1936), and several times a minister under the French Third Republic
-
Raymond Lantier (1886–1980), archaeologist
-
Jean Derode (1887–1918), World War I flying ace and military hero
-
Jean Charles Contel (1895–1928), painter
-
Michel Magne (1930–1984), composer (film music)
-
Hervé Lemonnier (1947–), rally driver
-
Matthieu Lagrive (1979–), endurance motorbike rider
-
Maxime Laisney (1981–), politician
-
Nicolas Batum (1988–), a professional basketball player playing with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association
-
Thomas Heurtaux (1988–), footballer
-
Chloé Mortaud (1989–), elected Miss France in 2009, lived in Lisieux until she was ten.
-
Marine Johannès (1995-), a professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the WNBA and Lyon Asvel Féminin
- Deaths
-
Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux (1873–1897) Carmelite nun, later canonised as a Saint of the Catholic Church
-
César Ruminski (1924–2009), international footballer
-
Yvonne Ziegler (1902–1988) French resistance fighter, artist
==Photo gallery==
See also
-
Bishopric of Lisieux
-
Communes of the Calvados department
-
Georges Vérez, sculptor of Lisieux War Memorial
-
Gallo-Roman Theater of Lisieux
External links
