Lescar

Lescar
region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Lescar, Gave et Terres du Pont-Long
Community association	Pau Bearn Pyrenees
Coordinates	43 ° 20 ′  N , 0 ° 26 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 20 ′  N , 0 ° 26 ′  W
height	142-203 m
surface	26.50 km 2
Residents	9,804 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	370 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	64230
INSEE code	64335
Website	Lescar
View of Lescar

Lescar - city gate and tower ruins

Lescar is a small town and a southwestern French community with 9,804 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine . The city was a bishopric for centuries ; it was also an important stop on the Way of St. James ( Via Tolosana ) .

Location and climate

The small town of Lescar is located on a tributary of the Gave de Pau in the southwestern foothills of the Pyrenees, a good 200 km south of Bordeaux or southwest of Toulouse at an altitude of about 180  m . The pilgrimage site of Lourdes is only approx. 50 km southeast and the city of Pau is only approx. 10 km away. The climate is temperate; Rain (approx. 910 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1800	1851	1901	1954	1999	2015
Residents	1,710	1,940	1,554	1,855	8,191	9,958

Despite the rural exodus - triggered by the phylloxera crisis in viticulture in the late 19th century and the mechanization of agriculture in the first half of the 20th century - the population of the municipality hardly increased. However, the proximity to the city of Pau triggered a significant increase in population since the 1960s.

economy

The small town is located in the middle of an intensively used agricultural area. Small traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds have settled in the city itself. In Lescar there is a train station on the Toulouse - Bayonne line ; Connections to the A 64 and A 65 are also available.

history

At the foot of the hill on which today's Lescar is located, the oppidum Beneharnum was the capital of the Béarn in late antiquity . After the destruction of the city by the Vikings (around 841), the diocese founded in the 5th or 6th century was vacant for about 200 years and Morlaàs became the new capital. A new settlement called Lescar developed on the hill in the 11th century. The Bishop of Lescar was the chairman of the États de Béarn ; the kings of Navarre from the house of Albret chose the cathedral as their burial place .

Attractions

hill

• The former cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption) is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary ; Construction began in 1120, but later there were repeated changes. The church was at the time of Queen Joan III. plundered by the Huguenots . Restoration work in the 17th and 18th centuries saved the Romanesque choir . The kings Franz Phoebus († 1483) and Catherine of Navarre († 1517), their son Henry II of Navarre († 1555) and his wife, the poet Margaret of Navarre († 1549), were buried in the cathedral. The building has been recognized as a monument historique since 1840 .

• 

  former cathedral

• 

  Console frieze under the eaves of the apse

• 

  North side

• 

  Capitals with the fall of man and the expulsion from paradise

• 

  Mosaic with a one-legged hunter

• From the formerly adjacent monastery district from the 16./17. In the 19th century only the rectory (presbytère) remained .
• The Musée de Lescar shows some archaeological finds from Beneharnum .
• Parts of the medieval city wall have been preserved, including a city ​​gate recognized as a monument historique and the Tour de l'Esquirette .

level

• The church of St. Julien with its high bell gable (clocher mur) dates from the 16th century and is located on the outskirts in the cemetery.
• In the lowlands at the foot of the old city center there are several burial mounds ( tumuli ) from prehistoric times.
• The foundations of a country estate ( villa rustica ) and a public thermal baths (thermae) were exposed from Roman times .

Town twinning

• L'Alfàs del Pi , Alicante Province (Spain)
• Sátão , Viseu District (Portugal)

Personalities

• St. Julianus of Lescar († around 505), 1st bishop of the city
• St. Galactorius of Lescar († around 510), 2nd bishop of the city

literature

• Denis Labau: Petite histoire de Lescar. Des origines à la Réforme. Pau 2018, ISBN 978-2-8240-0809-7 .
• Denis Labau: Petite histoire de Lescar. De la Réforme au Concordat. Pau 2018, ISBN 978-2-8240-0827-1 .
• Denis Labau: Petite histoire de Lescar. Chronique d'une cité du Béarn du XIXème siècle. Pau 2017, ISBN 978-2-8240-0828-8 .

Web links

Commons : Lescar  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lescar - climate tables
2. ↑ Lescar - history
3. ↑ Lescar - former cathedral
4. ↑ Lescar - former cathedral in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
5. ^ Lescar Museum
6. ^ Lescar - City gate in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
7. ↑ Lescar - Tour de l'Esquirette in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)