The name of the town derives from theLatin:Noviomagus Lexoviorum ("Noviomagus of theLexovii"). The town was originally known inCeltic asNovio Magos ("New Field", "New Market"), which wasLatinized asNoviomagus. Owing to the large number of similarly named cities, however, it was necessary to specify where this one was located. The local French demonymLexoviens derives from the Latin as well.
Lisieux was the capital of the Lexovii. In his work,Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallicoppidum, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to asleCastellier,[3] located 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) to the southwest of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
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.[citation needed]King Henry II of England was staying in Lisieux when he announced plans to marryEleanor of Aquitaine in 1152,[4] and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards. In the 14th century, the triple scourges ofthe Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc,Pierre Cauchon, became a bishop of Lisieux after Joan's death, and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
4th century: Presence of the Germaniclaeti, 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".
1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted byPaul 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 theSaint-Jacques commune.
Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the riverTouques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain.
The town is in the heart of thePays d'Auge, 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 andcalvados are made, not forgettingpommeau).
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, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, is served byTransport express régional (regional express) trains on the TER Normandie routes. The station appeared in the filmUn singe en hiver byHenri 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) fromParis toCherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road serving Lisieux is the D579, leading toDeauville to the north and the department ofOrne to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
Since theMiddle Ages Lisieux has been the seat of one of the sevenRoman Catholicdioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province ofRouen. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that ofBayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
Devotion toSainte-Thérèse also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus who lived in the nearbyCarmelite convent has made Lisieux France's second-most important site of pilgrimage, after thePyrenean town ofLourdes. 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.
As of 2017[update], Lisieux is Calvados' third largest commune in terms of population, after Caen and Hérouville-Saint-Clair.[8] Itsfunctional urban area of 55,168 inhabitants is the second largest of the department, after Caen. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known asLexoviens.
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.[11]
Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the southChâteau de Saint-Germain-de-Livet from the entrance
As its name indicates, theChâteau de Saint-Germain-de-Livet is situated in thecommune ofSaint-Germain-de-Livet. It is to be found opposite the village church which dates from the 19th century. Thechâteau 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 thePré-d'Auge dating from the end of the 16th century.
The chateau combinesmedieval andRenaissance elements and is surrounded by amoat and a peacock garden.
Lisieux Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre) 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.[citation needed]
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 theÎle de France, whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (thechevet, thelantern tower and the western façade) in Norman style.
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