Editing Lisieux

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{short description|Subprefecture and commune in Normandy, France}}
{{For|the town in Canada|Lisieux, Saskatchewan}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Lisieux
|commune status         = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = Lisieux-mairie.jpg
|caption                = Town hall
|image coat of arms     = Blason Lisieux.svg
|arrondissement         = Lisieux
|canton                 = Lisieux
|INSEE                  = 14366
|postal code            = 14100
|mayor                  = Sébastien Leclerc<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|intercommunality       = [[Communauté d'agglomération Lisieux Normandie|CA Lisieux Normandie]]
|coordinates            = {{coord|49.15|0.23|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            = 
|elevation min m        = 32
|elevation max m        = 152
|area km2               = 13.07
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
|population_demonym     = Lexoviens
}}

'''Lisieux''' ({{IPA|fr|lizjø|lang|Fr-Paris--Lisieux.ogg}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Calvados (department)|Calvados]] [[Departments of France|department]] in the [[Normandy (administrative region)|Normandy]] [[Regions of France|region]] in northwestern [[France]]. It is the capital of the [[Pays d'Auge]] area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.

{{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy}}

==Name==
The name of the town derives from the {{langx|la|Noviomagus Lexoviorum}} ("Noviomagus of the [[Lexovii]]"). The town was originally known in [[Common Celtic|Celtic]] as {{lang|xtg|Novio Magos|italic=yes}} ("New Field", "New Market"), which was [[Latinization of names|Latinized]] as {{lang|la|Noviomagus|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 {{lang|fr|Lexoviens|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 oppidum|Castellier]]'',<ref>François Neveux, ''Bayeux et Lisieux, villes épiscopales de Normandie à la fin du Moyen Age (Éditions Lys, 1996)</ref> located {{convert|3|km|sp=us}} 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 [[Black Death|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===
[[File:The British Army in Normandy 1944 B9614.jpg|thumbnail|right|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 (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 (spirit)|calvados]] are made, not forgetting [[pommeau]]).

===Climate===
Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|collapsed = 
|location =  Lisieux (1994–2020 normals, extremes 1994-present)
|Jan record high C = 17.5
|Feb record high C = 21.3
|Mar record high C = 26.1
|Apr record high C = 28.4
|May record high C = 31.8
|Jun record high C = 37.7
|Jul record high C = 40.5
|Aug record high C = 40.0
|Sep record high C = 34.3
|Oct record high C = 29.4
|Nov record high C = 23.1
|Dec record high C = 17.6
|year record high C = 40.5
|Jan high C = 8.5
|Feb high C = 9.7
|Mar high C = 12.6
|Apr high C = 15.9
|May high C = 18.9
|Jun high C = 22.2
|Jul high C = 24.3
|Aug high C = 24.2
|Sep high C = 21.4
|Oct high C = 17.1
|Nov high C = 12.2
|Dec high C = 9.0
| year high C = 16.3
|Jan mean C = 5.5
|Feb mean C = 6.0
|Mar mean C = 8.1
|Apr mean C = 10.4
|May mean C = 13.6
|Jun mean C = 16.7
|Jul mean C = 18.6
|Aug mean C = 18.5
|Sep mean C = 15.8
|Oct mean C = 12.7
|Nov mean C = 8.6
|Dec mean C = 6.0
| year mean C = 11.7
|Jan low C = 2.4
|Feb low C = 2.3
|Mar low C = 3.5
|Apr low C = 4.9
|May low C = 8.3
|Jun low C = 11.2
|Jul low C = 13.0
|Aug low C = 12.8
|Sep low C = 10.2
|Oct low C = 8.2
|Nov low C = 5.1
|Dec low C = 2.9
| year low C = 7.1
|Jan record low C = -12.0
|Feb record low C = -14.8
|Mar record low C = -9.3
|Apr record low C = -5.0
|May record low C = -1.0
|Jun record low C = 3.0
|Jul record low C = 0.0
|Aug record low C = 5.0
|Sep record low C = 0.2
|Oct record low C = -7.0
|Nov record low C = -7.0
|Dec record low C = -11.0
|year record low C = -14.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 82.2
|Feb precipitation mm = 69.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 64.2
|Apr precipitation mm = 62.1
|May precipitation mm = 65.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 67.9
|Jul precipitation mm = 56.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 66.4
|Sep precipitation mm = 68.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 85.6
|Nov precipitation mm = 87.2
|Dec precipitation mm = 106.1
|year precipitation mm = 881.4
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 13.6
| Feb precipitation days = 12.0
| Mar precipitation days = 11.0
| Apr precipitation days = 10.3
| May precipitation days = 10.0
| Jun precipitation days = 9.3
| Jul precipitation days = 9.3
| Aug precipitation days = 9.4
| Sep precipitation days = 9.7
| Oct precipitation days = 12.5
| Nov precipitation days = 13.7
| Dec precipitation days = 14.8
| year precipitation days =135.6
|source 1 = Meteociel<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=14366002
|title=Normales et records pour Lisieux (14)
|publisher=Meteociel
|access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref>}}

===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===
[[File:Lisieux-Cathedrale.jpg|thumb| [[Lisieux Cathedral]]]]
Since the [[Middle Ages]] Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven [[Roman Catholic]] [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen|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 [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux|Bayeux]] in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".

The best-known of the [[Diocese of Lisieux|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 [[Thérèse of Lisieux|Sainte-Thérèse]] also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus who lived in the nearby [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] convent has made Lisieux France's second-most important site of pilgrimage, after the [[Pyrenees|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:<ref>''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.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+List of mayors
|-
! colspan="2"| 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]] {{flagicon|UK}}  – since 1951;
* [[Saint-Georges, Quebec]] {{flagicon|CAN}} – since 1996
* [[Saint-Jérôme, Quebec]] {{flagicon|CAN}} {{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} – since 2010
* [[Mogliano Veneto]] {{flagicon|ITA}} <ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-01 |title=Lisieux : le comité de jumelage célèbre ses dix ans d'existence au parc des expositions |url=https://actu.fr/normandie/lisieux_14366/lisieux-le-comite-de-jumelage-celebre-ses-dix-ans-dexistence-au-parc-des-expositions_54198610.html |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=actu.fr |language=fr}}</ref>

==Population==
{{As of|2017}}, Lisieux is Calvados' third largest commune in terms of population, after Caen and Hérouville-Saint-Clair.<ref name=pop2017>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/4265429/ensemble.pdf Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017], [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]]</ref> Its [[functional area (France)|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 populations
| align = none
| cols = 2
| percentages = pagr
| source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|19690|Lisieux}}</ref> and INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-14366#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
| graph-pos = bottom
|1793|10118
|1800|10171
|1806|10937
|1821|10403
|1831|10257
|1836|11473
|1841|11378
|1846|11968
|1851|11754
|1856|12993
|1861|13121
|1866|12617
|1872|18341
|1876|18396
|1881|16039
|1886|16267
|1891|16260
|1896|16349
|1901|16084
|1906|16239
|1911|15948
|1921|15341
|1926|15192
|1931|15362
|1936|16032
|1946|12746
|1954|15342
|1962|21156
|1968|23830
|1975|25521
|1982|24940
|1990|23703
|1999|23166
|2007|22700
|2012|21170
|2017|20318
}}

==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===
[[File:Basilique Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux-2876.jpg|thumb|[[Basilica of St. Thérèse, Lisieux|Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux]]]]
The [[Basilica of St. Thérèse (Lisieux)|Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux]] was constructed in honour of [[Thérèse of Lisieux|Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux]], who was [[Beatification|beatified]] in 1923 and [[Canonization|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.<ref>Sanctuary of Lisieux, [https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr/en/decouvrir-le-sanctuaire/le-carmel/ Carmel], accessed 23 December 2022</ref>

===Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet===
[[File:Chateau_St_Germain_de_Livet(Vue_Sud).JPG|thumb|Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the south]]
[[File:Normandie_Calvados_Livet_tango7174.jpg|thumb|Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the entrance]]
As its name indicates, the '''Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet''' is situated in the [[Communes of France|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 [[Le Pre-d'Auge|Pré-d'Auge]] dating from the end of the 16th century.

The chateau combines [[Middle Ages|medieval]] and [[Renaissance]] elements and is surrounded by a [[moat]] and a peacock garden.

===Lisieux Cathedral===
{{main|Lisieux Cathedral}}
Lisieux Cathedral ({{lang|fr|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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

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#Chevet|chevet]], the [[cupola|lantern tower]] and the western façade) in Norman style.

It is wrongly claimed that [[Henry Plantagenet]], Count of [[County of Anjou|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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

===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 [[André Le Nôtre|Andre le Notre]],<ref>[https://www.minube.com/rincon/jardin-de-leveche-a3680252 Jardin de l'évêché] (Spanish), accessed 28 December 2022</ref> recreated in 1837.<ref>Normandy Tourism, [https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/museums-and-heritage-sites/bishops-garden/ Bishop's Garden], accessed 28 December 2022</ref>

==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 [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]] and Lyon Asvel Féminin

; Deaths
* [[Thérèse of Lisieux|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==
<gallery>
File:Henry Edridge06.jpg|"Street in Lisieux" by [[Henry Edridge]]
File:Lisieux basilica.jpg|Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse
File:Cathedrale_de_Lisieux_vue_du_nord-est.jpg|Lisieux Cathedral
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Bishopric of Lisieux]]
* [[Communes of the Calvados department]]
* [[Georges Vérez]], sculptor of Lisieux War Memorial
* [[Gallo-Roman Theater of Lisieux]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lisieux}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20000412130921/http://www.ville-lisieux.fr/ Lisieux website] {{in lang|fr}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051013085410/http://en.lisieux-tourisme.com/ Tourism website] {{in lang|fr|en|de}}

{{Calvados communes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lisieux| ]]
[[Category:Communes of Calvados (department)]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:Lexovii]]
[[Category:Gallia Lugdunensis]]