Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is the capital of the

Pays d'Auge The Pays d'Auge (, literally ''Land of Auge'') is an area in Normandy, straddling the '' départements'' of Calvados and Orne (plus a small part of the territory of Eure). The chief town is Lisieux. Geography Generally it consists of the basin ...

area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.

Name

The name of the town derives from the ("Noviomagus of the

Lexovii The Lexovii (Gaulish: *''Lexsouioi'', 'the leaning, lame'), were a Gallic tribe dwelling immediately west of the mouth of the Seine, around present-day Lisieux, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Lexovii'' ...

"). The town was originally known in

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

as ("New Field", "New Market"), which was Latinized as . Owing to the large number of similarly named cities, however, it was necessary to specify where this one was located. The local French demonym derives from the Latin as well.

History

Antiquity

Lisieux was the capital of the Lexovii. In his work, ''Commentaries on the Gallic War'', Caesar mentions a Gallic ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

'', a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as ''le Castellier'', located to the southwest of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.

Middle Ages

Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards, until, in the 14th century, the triple scourges of the Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc,

Pierre Cauchon Pierre Cauchon (; 1371 – 18 December 1442) was a French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He was a strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War. He w ...

, became a bishop of Lisieux after Joan's death, and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.

Events

* 4th century: Presence of the Germanic '' laeti'', auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania. * 1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried. * 1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town. * 1897: Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux. In 1925, she would be canonized as "St.

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin; 2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), religious name, in religion Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Discalced Carmelites, Discalced Carmelite who is widely v ...

". * 1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul Cornu. * 1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux. * 6/7 June 1944: An Allied bombardment killed 800 people and destroyed two thirds of the town. * 23 August 1944: Liberation by the Allied troops. * 1960: Lisieux merged with the ''Saint-Jacques'' commune. * 2 June 1980: Pope John-Paul II visited Lisieux.

Geography

Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the river Touques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain. The town is in the heart of the

, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados are made, not forgetting pommeau).

Climate

Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.

Transport

The town of Lisieux is served by a bus network called Lexobus, with 6 routes. The town is also linked to surrounding towns and villages by a network of buses; Bus Verts du Calvados. The main railway station,

Lisieux station is the main train station for the town of Lisieux, Normandy, France. It was built by Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest in 1855. The station is built in a Y shape and is situated on the Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway main line from Paris to Caen and ...

, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, is served by

Transport express régional Transport express régional (, usually shortened to TER) is the brand name used by the SNCF, the French national railway company, to denote rail service run by the regional councils of France, specifically their organised transport authorities. ...

(regional express) trains on the TER Normandie routes. The station appeared in the film ''Un singe en hiver'' by Henri Verneuil. There is another station on the line to Deauville: Le Grand-Jardin station. To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

crosses the town from east to west. The second main road serving Lisieux is the D579, leading to

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

to the north and the department of

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019. Since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux". The best-known of the Bishops of Lisieux is

, who had a decisive influence during the

trial of Joan of Arc The trial of Joan of Arc, a French military leader under Charles VII of France, Charles VII during the Hundred Years' War, began on 9 January 1431 and ended with her execution on 30 May. The trial is one of the most famous in history, becoming ...

. He is buried in Lisieux Cathedral. Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus who lived in the nearby

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

convent has made Lisieux France's second-most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean town of

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

. Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux died in 1897, she was canonized in 1925 and named a doctor of the church by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

Administration

Mayors of Lisieux

List of everyone who has held the position of Mayor of Lisieux:

International relations

Lisieux is twinned with: *

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

– since 1951; *

Saint-Georges, Quebec Saint-Georges () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 32,935 as of the Canada 2021 Census. Route 173 runs ...

– since 1996 * Saint-Jérôme, Quebec – since 2010 * Mogliano Veneto

Population

, Lisieux is Calvados' third largest commune in terms of population, after Caen and Hérouville-Saint-Clair.Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017
INSEE Its functional urban area of 55,168 inhabitants is the second largest of the department, after Caen. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known as ''Lexoviens''.

Sights

About 60 percent of the town was destroyed in 1944, so few of the monuments have been preserved.

Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux

The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux was constructed in honour of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux, who was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

in 1923 and

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

in 1925. It was built for pilgrims who came in increasing numbers to venerate the new saint in the town where she had lived and died.

Carmel of Lisieux

It is possible to visit the chapel and exterior of the Carmel or monastery where Thérèse lived, but the remainder of the building is closed to visitors.

Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet

As its name indicates, the Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet is situated in the commune of Saint-Germain-de-Livet. It is to be found opposite the village church which dates from the 19th century. The

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

has been owned by the town of Lisieux since 1958 when it was donated by the Riesener family. From an architectural point of view the château comprises a half-timbered manor dating from the 15th century and a glazed brick and stone building from the Pré-d'Auge dating from the end of the 16th century. The chateau combines

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

elements and is surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

and a peacock garden.

Lisieux Cathedral

Lisieux Cathedral () is a rare monument which survived the 1944 allied bombardment. Even though the cathedral has been around since the 6th century, the church of today must have been constructed between 1160 and 1230 by Bishop Arnoul. From the outset, the architect designed quadripartite rib vaults and flying buttresses, making it one of Normandy's first Gothic buildings. The nave is fairly austere and is inspired by the Gothic style of the Île de France, whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (the

chevet In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. In Byzan ...

, the

lantern tower In architecture, the lantern tower is a tall construction above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church, with openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing (so it also called a crossing lante ...

and the western façade) in Norman style. It is wrongly claimed that

Henry Plantagenet Henry II () was Monarchy of the United Kingdom, King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled Kingdom of England, England, substantial parts of Wales in the High Middle Ages, Wales and Lordship of Ireland ...

, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and future king of England, married

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...

at the cathedral in 1152; they married in

Poitiers Cathedral Poitiers Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church in Poitiers, France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Poitiers. History Its construction began in 1162 by Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the ruins of a R ...

. Having been involved in the trial of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

was named as Bishop of Lisieux in 1432 and is buried there.

Town Hall

The town hall (18th century) was formerly a private residence.

Bishop's Garden

French formal garden of the former Bishop's residence, designed by Andre le Notre, recreated in 1837.Normandy Tourism
Bishop's Garden
accessed 28 December 2022

Notable people

; Births * Jean-Baptiste Laumonier (1749–1818), surgeon * Thomas de Frondeville (1750–1816), politician * Yves Leopold Germain Gaston (1803–1863), Sugar production pioneer, known as the "Father of the Sugar Industry" in the Philippines * Paul-Louis Target (1821–1908), politician * Henry Chéron (1867–1936), mayor of Lisieux (1894–1908; 1932–1936), and several times a minister under the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

* Raymond Lantier (1886–1980), archaeologist * Jean Derode (1887–1918), World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

and military hero * Jean Charles Contel (1895–1928), painter *

Michel Magne Michel Magne (20 March 1930 in Lisieux, Calvados, France – 19 December 1984 in Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise) was a French film and experimental music composer. Early life He was the fifth child in a family of eight. As young as age five, h ...

(1930–1984), composer (film music) * Hervé Lemonnier (1947–), rally driver * Matthieu Lagrive (1979–), endurance motorbike rider * Maxime Laisney (1981–), politician *

Nicolas Batum Nicolas Madelin Victor Andre Batum ( ; born 14 December 1988)
is a French professional basketb ...

(1988–), a professional basketball player playing with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

of the National Basketball Association *

Thomas Heurtaux Thomas Heurtaux (; born 3 July 1988) is a retired French professional Association football, footballer who last played for FK Pohronie, Pohronie in the Slovak Super Liga, Fortuna Liga. He previously played domestically for Stade Malherbe Caen, ...

(1988–), footballer * Chloé Mortaud (1989–), elected Miss France in 2009, lived in Lisieux until she was ten. * Marine Johannès (1995-), a professional basketball player for the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

of the WNBA and Lyon Asvel Féminin ; Deaths * Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux (1873–1897) Carmelite nun, later canonised as a Saint of the Catholic Church * César Ruminski (1924–2009), international footballer * Yvonne Ziegler (1902–1988) French resistance fighter, artist

Photo gallery

File:Henry Edridge06.jpg, "Street in Lisieux" by Henry Edridge File:Lisieux basilica.jpg, Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse File:Cathedrale_de_Lisieux_vue_du_nord-est.jpg, Lisieux Cathedral

References

External links

Lisieux website

Tourism website
{{Authority control Communes of Calvados (department) Subprefectures in France Lexovii Gallia Lugdunensis