Lavaur, Tarn

French commune
nomcommune= Lavaur
Aerial view of Lavaur
|région= Midi-Pyrénées
département= Tarn
arrondissement=Castres
canton= Canton of Lavaur
(chief town)
insee=81140
cp=81500
maire=Bernard Carayon
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Communauté de communes Tarn et Agout
longitude=1.81972222222
latitude=43.6997222222
alt moy=141 m
alt mini=105 m
alt maxi=274 m
hectares=6,283
km²=62.83
sans=8,537
date-sans=1999
dens=135
date-dens=1999

Lavaur is a town and commune of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the Tarn "département", 37 m. S.E. of Montauban by rail.

History

Lavaur was taken in 1211 by Simon de Montfort during the wars of the Albigenses, and 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 late 18th century.

Demographics

Population::1906: town 4,069; commune 6,388:1999: commune 8,537.

ights

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.

Economy

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

Miscellaneous

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

References

*1911

ee also

*Communes of the Tarn department