Lodève (; , ; ) is a commune in the department of

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

, in the

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 ...

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

, southern

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 a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

of the department. The derivation of the city's name is from

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

''Luteva'', composed of lut-, swamp, mud + suffix -eva. It might therefore translate as ''the muddy place'' or ''the swamp city''. This mud could be a

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, called

argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

, which was use during

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

to produce

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

Geography

Lodève lies where the coastal plain rises up to the

Larzac Larzac (, ), also known as the Causse of Larzac (French: ''Causses, Causse du Larzac''; ), is a limestone karst plateau in the south of the Massif Central, France, situated between Millau (in the Departments of France, department of Aveyron) ...

plateau, from

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, where the river Lergue and the smaller river Soulondre meet. Lodève is surrounded by green hills and vineyards and lies only from the large man-made Lac du Salagou.

Climate

Lodève has a mostly mediterranean climate, with hot summers favourable to

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

. Violent storms and torrential rain are frequently seen in late summer, leading to flooding and the muds and swamps that gave the city its name.

History

Lodève started as the capital of a tribe of the

Volcae The Volcae () were a Gallic tribal confederation constituted before the raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedonia c. 270 BC and fought the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC. Tribes known by the name Volcae were found si ...

, the ''Lutevani'', before becoming the Roman city ''Luteva'' (also known as ''Forum Neronis''). The town was a stopping point on the pilgrimage to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

via the

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

road. From the 5th century until the French Revolution, it was the seat of the

Bishops of Lodève A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

. It was also a centre for textile production under

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

and was home to one of only two royal manufactories for tapestry, the other being the

Gobelins Gobelins may refer to: * Gobelin, the name of family of dyers, established from the 15th century * Gobelins Manufactory, a historic tapestry factory in Paris, France * The 13th arrondissement of Paris, an administrative district containing the Go ...

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 ...

. More recently, the area was the centre of a firm resistance against the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Sights

Lodève Cathedral Lodève Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church in Lodève, Hérault, southern France. The edifice is a typical example of local Gothic architecture. Lodève is an ancient town of Celtic origin, situated some 50 kilometres (as the crow flies) fro ...

(''Cathédrale Saint-Fulcran de Lodève''), parts of which date from the sixth century. * Museum Fleury (temporary art exhibitions (mainly paintings) and a permanent archaeological collection). * Halle Dardé, dedicated to local sculptor Paul Dardé. * L'Atelier national du tapis de Lodève, the French state carpet-making workshop (visits arranged by Tourist Office, Lodève). In the vicinity: * Cave: Grotte de Labeil. * Saint-Michel de Grandmont Priory and its

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

. * Lerab Ling: Buddhist Temple in traditional Tibetan form.

Culture

Throughout the year, the town hosts a programme of cultural and sporting events, as well as all sorts of markets. In recent years, the Museum Art Gallery has gained national acclaim for its major art exhibitions. The "Voix de la Méditerranée" poetry festival, established in 1998, takes place every July for around 9 days, and involves poets, musicians and writers from many different countries on the Mediterranean. The annual "Fête de St. Fulcran", the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the town, takes place in May and includes the procession of the saint's relics and a funfair.

Population

Lodève has a fairly large Algerian (see pied noir,

harki ''Harki'' (adjective from the Algerian Arabic "''ḥarka''", standard Arabic "''ḥaraka''" �ركة "war party" or "movement", i.e., a group of volunteer militia) is the generic term for native Muslim Algerians who served as auxiliaries alongs ...

) population, the first generation of which fought for the French and were housed here after the Algerian Civil War.

Transportation

The town lies on the

A75 autoroute The A75 is an '' autoroute'' (motorway) in France. Known also as ''la Méridienne'', it is a developmental project aiming to speed up, and reduce the cost of car travel from Paris to the south of France. Apart from the Millau Viaduct, it is fre ...

about 30 minutes south of the new

Millau viaduct The Millau Viaduct (, ) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the Canyon, gorge valley of the Tarn (river), Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region, i ...

, the highest bridge in the world.

Personalities

Lodève was the birthplace of: *

André-Hercule de Fleury André-Hercule de Fleury (22 June or 26 June 165329 January 1743) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, Bishop of Fréjus and as the chief minister of Louis XV. He was cre ...

(1653-1743) a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

who served as the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

. Lodève's municipal museum is named after him. *

Jean Louis Conneau Jean Louis Conneau (8 February 1880 Lodève, Hérault, France – 5 August 1937, Lodève), better known by the pseudonym André Beaumont, was a pioneer French aviator, French Navy lieutenant, and flying boat manufacturer. Flying career Conn ...

aka André Beaumont (1880-1937), pioneer aviator. *

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 h ...

(1899-1983),

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. * Paul Dardé (1888-1963),

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. The middle school is named after him. *

Joseph Vallot Joseph Vallot (; 16 February 1854 – 11 April 1925) was a French scientist, astronomer, botanist, geographer, Cartography, cartographer and Mountaineering, alpinist and "one of the founding fathers of scientific research on Mont Blanc". He is k ...

(1854 – 1925), the

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

who installed an observatory on

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

. Lodève's high school is named after him.

Economy

The town houses a famous carpet-manufacturing company, part of the national Savonnerie, which once supplied carpets to the French royal family, and still today produces hand-made carpets for State buildings. Viticulture, focussed on the

Carignan Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...

grape variety, is a major industry. The climate is also favourable for fruit production, and the region's peaches, apricots, melons and tomatoes are prized.

International relations

Lodève is twinned with

South Kirkby and Moorthorpe South Kirkby and Moorthorpe is a civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England which is governed locally by South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council. The parish and town council are made up of the town of South Kirkby Sout ...

, UK and

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

, Kosovo.

References

External links

Tourist office website

Voix de la Méditerranée website
(French) *

gcatholic.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Lodeve Communes of Hérault Subprefectures in France Languedoc