Lamalou-les-Bains
| Lamalou-les-Bains | ||
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Herault | |
| Arrondissement | Beziers | |
| Canton | Clermont-l'Hérault | |
| Community association | Grand Orb | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 36 ' N , 3 ° 5' E | |
| height | 175–458 m | |
| surface | 6.18 km 2 | |
| Residents | 2,509 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 406 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 34240 | |
| INSEE code | 34126 | |
| Website | Lamalou-les-Bains website | |
 Lamalou-les-Bains - panoramic view |
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Lamalou-les-Bains is a municipality in the south of France with 2,509 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Hérault department in the Occitania region . The municipality is part of the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park .
Location and climate
Lamalou-les-Bains is located in a wooded region at the foot of the Cevennes about 85 km (driving distance) west of Montpellier and about 38 km north of Béziers at an altitude of about 250 m . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 700 mm / year) falls over the year.
Population development
| year | 1851 | 1901 | 1954 | 1999 | 2017 | |||
| Residents | 381 | 878 | 1,358 | 2.156 | 2,509 | |||
| Sources: Cassini and INSEE | ||||||||
The steady increase in the number of inhabitants is due to the classification as a health resort.
economy
In earlier times, the inhabitants of the community lived as a self-sufficient living from agriculture, which also included viticulture and the breeding of sheep and goats . It was not until the 19th century that the development and use of the thermal springs, which have been known since the Middle Ages, began .
history
There are no finds from prehistoric or Roman times. The earliest evidence of human settlement in the area is a Gallo-Roman sanctuary from the 5th / 6th centuries. The Romanesque priory church of Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes was built on its site in the 12th century . Today's municipality and the place Lamalou emerged from the place Villecelle , which in 1878 - at the heyday of the spa industry - took on the name Lamalou-les-Bains.
Attractions
- The former priory and today's parish church of Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes stands on a hillside in what is now the hamlet of Rhèdes . A previous building was mentioned as early as 990, but the current church dates from the 12th century and was built as part of a priory of the Villemagne Abbey . As a former priory church , it is built from precisely hewn stones and stabilized with buttresses ; It also has two portals adorned with black stone incrustations in the south and west and a third - unadorned - on the north side as well as several window arches decorated in a similar manner. The crenellated gable of the west facade, protruding like a defensive dungeon , is also of interest - the consoles sometimes show figurative motifs, which can be interpreted as disastrous ( apotropaic ). An arched field of the round arch frieze of the apse presents a 'primitive' figure of a pilgrim with a staff and bag. The barrel vault, which is slightly pointed at the apex, of the nave, which is exposed exclusively from the south-facing windows, is subject to belt arches that rest on double half-column templates with very simply designed figurative and vegetable capitals and a surrounding block frieze . In front of the walls of the nave is a double row of stone benches, which in the past could possibly have served as a replacement for a non-existent chapter house. The half-dome of the apse dome has unprofiled vault ribs . The church building was recognized as a monument historique as early as 1880 .
West portal
North portal
Nave window
Nave window
- In the cemetery surrounding the church there are several exceptionally richly designed graves and funerary monuments from the 19th century.
- The Romanesque pilgrimage chapel Notre-Dame de Capimont stands on a rocky and wooded hill about 1.5 km outside the town center. From here you can enjoy a beautiful view over Lamalou-les-Bains. Several crosses in the forest indicate a way of the cross , which was committed as part of the Good Friday procession .
- The neo-Gothic parish church (Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul) of Lamalou-les-Bains was completed in 1904.
Partner communities
- Leutkirch im Allgäu , Germany
- Misasa , Japan
- Yaoundé , Cameroon
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lamalou-les-Bains - Climate tables
- ↑ Église Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes, Lamalou-les-Bains in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)