Lectoure

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Lectoure
Lectoure Coat of Arms
Lectoure (France)
Lectoure
region Occitania
Department Gers
Arrondissement Condom
Canton Lectoure-Lomagne ( main town )
Community association Lomagne Gersoise
Coordinates 43 ° 56 '  N , 0 ° 37'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 56 '  N , 0 ° 37'  E
height 68-223 m
surface 84.93 km 2
Residents 3,664 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 43 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 32700
INSEE code 32208
Website Community website

Bell tower of Lectoure Cathedral

The municipality of Lectoure is located in the French region of Occitania in the Gers department . The small town with 3,664 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located in the Gascony region and has been the capital of the canton of Lectoure-Lomagne since 2015 and was previously the capital of the canton of Lectoure . The GR 65 long-distance hiking trail leads through it , which largely follows the historical course of the French Way of St. James, Via Podiensis .

Geography and traffic

The town above the river Gers is a thermal bath and is located in the Gascony region , about 22 km east of Condom , 35 km south of Agen and 35 km north of Auch .
The nearest major French cities are Toulouse (76 km) in the southeast, Bordeaux (139 km) in the northwest and Montpellier (264 km) in the east.

The closest commercial airport is the Aéroport Agen-La Garenne , which can be reached in a northerly direction via the D266 and N21 after about 37 kilometers by road. The company Airlinair offers daily connections to Paris. The nearest international airport is Toulouse Blagnac International Airport , which can be reached via the D7 and D1 after approximately 85 kilometers by road. The nearest SNCF train station is in Agen , from where there is a bus connection. Lectoure is connected to the French trunk road network via the A62 Toulouse- Nord - Bordeaux and exit 8 (Valence d'Agen).

history

Finds from the Mesolithic prove that the area of ​​Lectoure was already populated in prehistoric times . Numerous finds have been discovered in the Gallo-Roman ruins of Lectoure, such as handicrafts, kilns and pottery, sarcophagi and altars. Under Roman influence, the city was named Lactorates and was the capital of the province of Gallia Aquitana . During this time it formed a center of the Cybele cult. The Christianization began in the 4th century and the 5th century Lectoure was a bishopric . Around the 10th century the city was destroyed by the Visigoths , but rebuilt with reinforced defenses. It became the capital of Lomagne (today's Gascony ) under the rule of the House of Armagnac . In 1473, Count Jean d'Armagnac defended Lectoure against Louis XI in disputes over the succession . sent Archbishop of Albi . After a long siege, the city was captured and sacked. In the wars of religion , the city was conquered by Catholic troops in 1562, partly destroyed and occupied. During the 17th and 18th centuries, when there were no major military conflicts, the city developed into a civil society. In the course of the French Revolution (1789–1799) a large number of volunteers were recruited in Lectoure. In addition, the well-known Marshal Jean Lannes and a number of other generals came from Lectoure , whose portraits are now hanging in the entrance hall of the town hall. In the 19th and 20th centuries, like many other French small towns, Lectoure saw a slow decline in population, interrupted only by the First World War and the influx of refugees from Alsace at the beginning of the Second World War .

Number of inhabitants
(source:)
year 1793 1806 1831 1866 1901 1936 1962 1982 1990 1999 2017
Residents 5,503 6,360 6,495 6,086 4,495 4,407 3,908 3,923 4.034 3,933 3,664
From 1962 official figures excluding residents with a second residence

Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis )

During the Middle Ages , pilgrims were looked after by the hospices of Sainte-Catherine , Saint-Jean-Baptiste , Saint-Jacques and Saint-Antoine, as well as the Leprosery Pont de Pile . The Benedictine Abbey provided the spiritual support that was so important at the time .

Today there are two pilgrimage hostels (French: Gîte d'étape ), hotels and private rooms (French: Chambre d'hôtes ), as well as a tourist information center. The path continues through the hilly landscape of Gascony over streams and small rivers through agricultural areas via Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon to Condom. Other accommodations on the way to Condom are in Marsolan , La Romieu and Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon. The route D7 - D23 leads to Condom as a road connection .

Attractions

Hall of portraits in the town hall
  • Old center of Lectoure with picturesque streets lined with half-timbered houses and villas from the 18th century.
  • Preserved city walls from the 15th and 16th centuries.
  • Rempart boulevard du Nord , preserved rampart with a wide street
  • The Diana fountain is of Roman origin and was framed with three arches in the 13th century.
  • The town hall from the 18th century. It was built between 1676 and 1682 as a palace for Bishop Hugues de Bar and was used as such until the French Revolution. After that it was the seat of the sub-prefecture until 1926. It houses a room with artist-made portraits of Lectoure personalities from the Revolution, the Empire and the 19th century. The most well-known are:
  • Former Royal Tannery is a fine example of 18th century industrial architecture.
  • The Archaeological Museum of Lectoure displays objects from paleontology , early history , as well as from the Gallic , Gallo-Roman and Merovingian times. It shows a large collection of sarcophagi and altars for bull sacrifices to worship Cybele and Mithras , which were discovered during the reconstruction of the cathedral in 1540.
  • The former cathedral St-Gervais-et-St-Protais de Lectoure with construction phases from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The originally Romanesque nave was rebuilt in 1325 and the choir was added in 1540. The square tower was built in 1488 by master builder Mathieu Reguaneau, de Touraine . In addition to altars and choir stalls from the 17th to 19th centuries, the former cathedral houses the relic of Saint Clair d'Aquitaine , evangelist and first bishop of Lectoure.
  • Former Carmelite Chapel at 14 rue Marès, the only remnant of the Carmelite Convent.
  • Parish church du Saint-Esprit .
  • The Saint-Geny chapel from the 17th and 19th centuries. It was probably built on the site of a chapel in a 10th century monastery. The monastery later belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Moissac and then to the Monastery of Cluny . Today an icon museum can be visited in it.

economy

The Communauté de communes de la Lomagne Gersoise is responsible, among other things, for the development of the economy. In Lectoure there is a start-up center for companies, restaurants, a thermal bath and industrial, handicraft, food and agricultural businesses. The cultivation of melons, the Melons de Lectoure , and garlic is important.

Town twinning

literature

  • Bettina Forst: French Way of St. James. From Le Puy-en-Velay to Roncesvalles. All stages - with variants and height profiles. Bergverlag Rother, Munich (recte: Ottobrunn) 2007, ISBN 978-3-7633-4350-8 ( Rother hiking guide ).
  • Bert Teklenborg: Cycling along the Camino de Santiago. From the Rhine to the western end of Europe. (Cycling guide, route planner). 3rd revised edition. Publishing House Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-7022-2626-8 .

Web links

Commons : Lectoure  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Congregational information on annuaire-mairie.fr (French). Retrieved on January 21, 2010
  2. ^ Lectoure on Cassini.ehess.fr (French) Retrieved February 4, 2010
Muszla Jakuba.svg
Way of St. James " Via Podiensis "

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