Lodève

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Coordinates: 43°43′57″N 3°19′13″E / 43.7325, 3.32027777778

Administration
Commune of Lodève View of Lodève
Location

Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon
Department	Hérault (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Lodève
Canton	Lodève
Intercommunality	Communauté de Communes du Lodévois
Mayor	Bernadette Trani (PS) (2008-2014)
Statistics
Elevation	117 m–700 m (avg. 165 m)
Land area^¹	23.17 km²
Population^² (1999)	6,900
- Density	297/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	34142/ 34700
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Lodève (Occitan: Lodeva) is a medieval town in southern France, in the Hérault département, of which it is a sous-préfecture.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Main sights
4 Culture
5 Demographics
6 Transportation
7 Miscellaneous
8 See also
9 Sources
10 External links

[edit] Geography

Lodève lies where the plains rise up to the Larzac plateau, 54 km from Montpellier, in the valley of the Lergue river. It is surrounded by green hills and vineyards and lies only 8 km from the large man-made Lake Salagou.

[edit] History

Lodève started as the capital of a Volque tribe (the Lutevani) before becoming the Roman city Luteva (also known as Forum Neronis). The town was a stopping point on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela via the Arles road. Episcopal City until the French Revolution, it was also a centre for textile production under Louis XV and was home to one of only two royal manufactories for tapestry, the other being the one of the Gobelins in Paris.
More recently, the area had a firm resistance against the Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

[edit] Main sights

Stained glass in Lodève cathedral

Lodève Cathedral Cathédrale Saint-Fulcran de Lodève), parts of which date from the 6th century.
Museum Fleury (temporary art exhibitions (mainly paintings) and archeology permanent collection).
Halle Dardé, dedicated to local sculptor Paul Dardé.

In the vicinity:

Cave: Grotte de Labeil.
Priory St Michel de Grandmont and its dolmen.
Lerab Ling: Buddhist Temple in traditional Tibetan form.

[edit] Culture

Throughout the year, the town hosts a varied programme of festivities and events both cultural and athletic, as well as all sorts of markets which are always well worth a visit. In recent years, the Museum Art Gallery has gained national acclaim for its major art exhibitions.

One of the events that happens is the "Fête de St. Fulcran", the patron saint of the town. It happens every year for a week in May. For a week there is a carnival and other events.

[edit] Demographics

Lodève has a fairly large Algerian (see pied noir, harki) population, the first generation of which fought for the French and were housed here after the Algerian Civil War.

[edit] Transportation

The town lies on the A75 autoroute about 30 minutes south of the new Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Lodève was the birthplace of:

André-Hercule de Fleury (1653-1743) a cardinal who served as the chief minister of Louis XV
Georges Auric (1899-1983), composer
Paul Dardé (1888-1963), sculptor.
Joseph Vallot, Alpinist the middleschool and the highschool are name after this alpinist who installed an observatory in the Alpes.

The town houses a famous carpet-manufacturing company, part of the national Savonnerie, which once supplied large, exquisite carpets to the French royal family, and still today produces hand made carpets for State buildings.