Marvejols (; ) is a commune in the southern French department of

Lozère Lozère (; ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the ...

. Its inhabitants are known as ''Marvejolais''.

Geography

The commune is located in the Massif central. The

Colagne The Colagne () is a long river in the Lozère ''departments of France, département'', southeastern France. Its source is in Arzenc-de-Randon. It flows generally southwest. It is a right tributary of the Lot (river), Lot into which it flows betwee ...

flows southward through the middle of the commune and crosses the town.

History

A medieval city exemplifying the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

culture, Marvejols was strengthened during the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

against the English. Following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, the town walls were reinforced to protect the Huguenot population during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, Protestant Capt. Matthieu Merle based himself at Marvejols during his conquest of the

Gévaudan Gévaudan (; ) is a historical area of France in Lozère ''département''. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe. History After the conquest of Gaul, the Romans preserved the capital city of the Gabali, ''Anderitum'', which they ...

. But, having sided with the then Protestant Henri of Navarre, the future King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

, the town was besieged and burned to the ground by the

Catholics 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 ...

. Henry had it rebuilt in 1601 in recognition of the town's support for him.

Population

Monuments and sights

*La porte du Soubeyran, a town gateway dating from the fourteenth century. Two other medieval gates survive, La Porte de Chanelles to the south and the smaller Porte du Therond, to the east. Despite some 17th-century repairs, they still keep their

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 ...

charm. *Notre Dame de la Carce dating from the end of the 13th century, becoming collegiate in 1310. *Two large bronze sculptures by Emmanuel Auricoste can be seen at two of the entrances to Marvejols. One represents the mythical Beast of Gévaudan, the other, that of

, inscribed "exécuté à Marvejols en 1954" (Executed in 1954), which refers, of course, to the date of the sculpture, not the King's demise. *The wolf park of

: Over 100 wolves live in a semi-natural state in an area of hills above Marvejols, once renowned for the animals.

Culture

''Espoir Oc'' (Hope for Oc) is an association founded about twenty years ago, to promote and develop the

Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...

and culture. Based in Marvejols, they organize, on the first weekend of July, a festival based on the theme of the Middle Ages. Two big events take place; on the Saturday evening a great banquet consisting entirely of regional produce, finishing with a dance; on the Sunday morning, the mass is said in Occitan.

Notable people

* Rock band Subway is made up of four women, all originally from Marvejols. * Gilbert de Chambrun, mayor (1953–1965). * Armand Blanquet du Chayla, French admiral. * Samuel Darchy, footballer

In popular culture

The latter part of the story in the movie Betty Blue takes place in Marvejols.

Twin town

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

, UK

References

External links

Marvejols en Lozère.Espoir Oc

Un cop era la Lausera
{{authority control Communes of Lozère Gévaudan