Lisieux

For the town in Canada, see Lisieux, Saskatchewan.

Lisieux
Subprefecture and commune
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Lisieux
Lisieux Lisieux
Coordinates: 49°09′N 0°14′E
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Lisieux
Canton	Lisieux
Intercommunality	CA Lisieux Normandie
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Sébastien Leclerc
Area 1	13.07 km2 (5.05 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	19,807
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
Demonym	Lexoviens
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	14366 /14100
Elevation	32–152 m (105–499 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Lisieux (French: [lizjø] ) 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 Latin: Noviomagus Lexoviorum ("Noviomagus of the Lexovii"). The town was originally known in Celtic as Novio Magos ("New Field", "New Market"), which was Latinized as Noviomagus. Owing to the large number of similarly named cities, however, it was necessary to specify where this one was located. The local French demonym Lexoviens 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, located 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) 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 and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards, until, in the 14th century, the triple scourges of the Plague, 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

Lisieux during the Second World War

• 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.

Town	Sunshine	Rain	Snow	Storms	Fog
Paris	1,797 h/year	642mm/year	15 d/year	19 d/year	13 d/year
Nice	2,694 h/year	767mm/year	1 d/year	31 d/year	1 d/year
Strasbourg	1,637 h/year	610mm/year	30 d/year	29 d/year	65 d/year
Lisieux	1,764 h/year	711mm/year	14 d/year	17 d/year	54 d/year
National average	1,973 h/year	770mm/year	14 d/year	22 d/year	40 d/year

The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:

Month	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Average max. temperature (°C)	10.1	11.1	11.8	17	17.3	20.1	21.3	21	19.3	15.3	11.5	7.9
Average min. temperature (°C)	4.7	5.5	3.5	6.3	9.4	11.5	12.9	12.6	10.3	7.3	5.2	1.9
Average temperature (°C)	7.4	8.3	7.6	11.6	13.3	15.8	17.1	16.8	14.8	11.3	8.3	4.9
Precipitation (average height in mm)	45	83	90	23	91	83	135	49	56	39	44	81

The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:

Month	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Max. recorded temp. (°C)	16.1	20.8	24.4	26.4	30.4	34.1	36.6	38.9	33.5	27.6	19.9	17.2
Year of max. temp.	1993	1960	1946	1984	1953	2001	1952	2003	1961	1985	1982	1989
Min. recorded temp.(°C)	−19.6	−16.5	−7.4	−5.7	−0.8	1	4.7	4	1.8	−3.7	−6.8	−11
Year of min. temp.	1985	1956	1965	1978	1955	1962	1962	1974	1948	1997	1989	1948

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

Lisieux Cathedral

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 Carmelite convent has made Lisieux France's second-most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean 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:

List of mayors

Term		Name	Party	Profession
2020	incumbent	Sébastien Leclerc
March 2001	2020	Bernard Aubril	UMP	Teacher
1989	2001	Yvette Roudy	PS
1977	1989	André-Eugène Baugé
1953	1977	Robert Bisson
1945	1953	André Carles
1945		Casimir Hue
1936	1945	Albert Degrenne
1932	1936	Henry Chéron		Lawyer
1909	1932	Arthur Lesigne
1908	1909	Joseph Guillonneau
1894	1908	Henry Chéron		Lawyer
1881	1894	Théodule Peulevey		Industrialist
1878	1881	Louis Michel
1875	1878	Léopold Frauque
1871	1875	Jules Prat
1853	1871	François Fauque
1848	1853	Victor Godefroy
1847	1848	Jean-Lambert Fournet		Industrialist
1842	1847	Adrien-Benjamin Formeville
1832	1842	François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu
1816	1832	Joseph-François de Bellemare
1813	1816	Jean-Jacques Nasse
1808	1813	Louis-Jacques-Hippolyte Thillaye du Boullay
1798	1808	Jean-Jacques Nasse
1797		Guillaume-François Riquier
1796		Pierre Lerebours
1795		Jean-Baptiste Vergé
1795		Michel Bloche
1794		Jean Coessin
1793		Louis-Jean-René Prieur
1792		Michel Bloche
1791		Thomas Gannel
1790		François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu

International relations

Lisieux is twinned with:

• Taunton – since 1951;
• Saint-Georges, Quebec – since 1996
• Saint-Jérôme, Quebec [ref. necessary] – since 2010

Population

As of 2017, Lisieux is Calvados' third largest commune in terms of population, after Caen and Hérouville-Saint-Clair. 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.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 10,118 —     1800 10,171 +0.07% 1806 10,937 +1.22% 1821 10,403 −0.33% 1831 10,257 −0.14% 1836 11,473 +2.27% 1841 11,378 −0.17% 1846 11,968 +1.02% 1851 11,754 −0.36% 1856 12,993 +2.02% 1861 13,121 +0.20% 1866 12,617 −0.78% 1872 18,341 +6.43% 1876 18,396 +0.07% 1881 16,039 −2.70% 1886 16,267 +0.28% 1891 16,260 −0.01% 1896 16,349 +0.11%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 16,084 −0.33% 1906 16,239 +0.19% 1911 15,948 −0.36% 1921 15,341 −0.39% 1926 15,192 −0.20% 1931 15,362 +0.22% 1936 16,032 +0.86% 1946 12,746 −2.27% 1954 15,342 +2.34% 1962 21,156 +4.10% 1968 23,830 +2.00% 1975 25,521 +0.98% 1982 24,940 −0.33% 1990 23,703 −0.63% 1999 23,166 −0.25% 2007 22,700 −0.25% 2012 21,170 −1.39% 2017 20,318 −0.82%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

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

Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux

The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux was constructed in honour of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux, who was beatified in 1923 and canonized 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.

Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet

Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the south

Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the entrance

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 medieval and Renaissance elements and is surrounded by a moat and a peacock garden.

Lisieux Cathedral

Main article: 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 lantern tower 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, recreated in 1837.

Personalities

Births

• Jean-Baptiste Laumonier (1749–1818), surgeon
• Thomas de Frondeville (1750–1816), politician
• Yves Leopold Germain Gaston (1803–1863), Sugar production pioneer and was 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 and 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.

Photo gallery

• 
  "Street in Lisieux" by Henry Edridge
• 
  Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse
• 
  Lisieux Cathedral

See also

• Bishopric of Lisieux
• Communes of the Calvados department
• Georges Vérez, sculptor of Lisieux War Memorial
• Gallo-Roman Theater of Lisieux

External links

• Lisieux website (in French)
• Tourism website (in French, English, and German)