commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
coalmining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
town, now farming town with some light industry, surrounded by woods and lakes, situated some northeast of
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
, at the junction of the D954 and the D46 roads, with junction 18 of the
A1 autoroute
The A1 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Nord (the Northern Motorway), is the busiest of France's autoroutes. With a length of , it connects Paris with the northern city of Lille. It is managed by the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et ...
in the north of the commune.
History
Libercourt was once an integral part of the neighbouring town of Carvin. It became an independent commune in 1947. The discovery of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
led to the creation of large towns in the region. The tiny hamlet of Libercourt became a mining town forming part of the conurbation on the territory centred on Lens. Libercourt became home to many Polish immigrants looking for and finding work in the mining industry during the early part of the 20th century.
During two world wars, Libercourt and its people suffered severely at the hands of the invading Germans who knew all too well the importance to the regional economy of this mining and railway centre.
Population
Places of interest
* The church of Notre-Dame, dating from the nineteenth century.
* The modern church of St. Henri.
* A war memorial.
Notable people
*
Léon Glovacki
Léon Glovacki (19 February 1928 – 9 September 2009) was a French football striker.
Personal life
Glovacki was born in France, and was of Polish descent. He was an international for the France national football team
The France national ...
,
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
was born here.
*
Guillaume Bieganski
Guillaume Bieganski (3 November 1932 – 8 October 2016) was a French association football defender of Polish origin.
References
External links
*
*
Guillaume Bieganskiat RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens ...
,
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
was born here.
Twin towns
*
Jarocin
Jarocin () (german: Jarotschin) is a town in west-central Poland with 25,700 inhabitants (1995), the administrative capital of Jarocin County in Greater Poland Voivodeship.
Jarocin is a historical town, having been founded and granted city right ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...