Lavaur, Tarn

Commune in Occitania, France

Coat of arms

Location of Lavaur

(2020–2026) Bernard Carayon^[1]Area

62.83 km² (24.26 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

10,830 • Density170/km² (450/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

81140 /81500

Elevation105–274 m (344–899 ft)
(avg. 141 m or 463 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Lavaur (French pronunciation: [lavɔʁ]; Occitan: La Vaur) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.

History

Lavaur was taken in 1211 by Simon de Montfort during the wars of the Albigenses, a monument marking the site where Dame Giraude de Laurac (Lady of Lavaur) was killed,^[3] being thrown down a well and stoned to death.^[4] The town was also taken several times during the religious wars of the 16th century.

Geography

Lavaur stands on the left bank of the Agout, which is here crossed by a railway-bridge and a fine stone bridge of the 1770s.^[5] It lies 36 km southwest of Albi and 32 km east of Toulouse.

Demographics

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	7,665	—
1975	7,897	+0.43%
1982	7,972	+0.14%
1990	8,148	+0.27%
1999	8,537	+0.52%
2007	10,036	+2.04%
2012	10,242	+0.41%
2017	10,811	+1.09%
Source: INSEE^[6]

Sights

From 1317 till the French Revolution Lavaur was the seat of a bishopric; Lavaur Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Alan, was built for this purpose, dating from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, with an octagonal bell-tower. A second, smaller square tower contains a jaquemart (a statue which strikes the hours with a hammer) of the 16th century. In the bishops garden is the statue of Emmanuel, comte de Las Cases, one of the companions of Napoleon at Saint Helena. Historical monument since 1911.
Church of Saint-François. (XIV c.). Historical monument since 1996.
Tower of Rounds. (XIII c.) Historical monument since 1971.
Viaduc de Lavaur. 1884. Engineer Paul Séjourné.
Pont de Lavaur. Stone masonry road bridge over the Agout. Built between 1773 and 1791. Designed for the Estates of Languedoc by Joseph-Marie de Saget, known as De Saget elder.

Economy

The town carries on distilling and flour-milling and the manufacture of brushes, plaster and wooden shoes.

Notable residents

Pierre Fabre, founder of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre^[7]
Étienne de Voisins-Lavernière (1813–1898), French deputy and then senator for Tarn

Miscellaneous

There is a subprefecture and a tribunal of first instance (a lower Court of Justice).

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ "The Local Area around ourTarn Gite close to: Lavaur, Toulouse, Castres, Albi, Gaillac, Nalanda Buddhist Monastery, Vajrayogini Buddhist Institute, Cordes-sur-Ciel". Archived from the original on 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
^ "Languedoc (Traditional province, France)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
^ Base Mérimée: Pont Saint-Roch, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
^ "Pierre Fabre, founder of pharmaceutical giant, dies". Agence France Presse. France 24. 2013-07-20. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-17.