Lisieux Hotels

Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados in the Basse-Normandie region of France. Lisieux has a population of 24,080 inhabitants (1999). The population without double-counts is 23,166 (1999). The metropolitan area has a population of 45,065. The area now known as Lisieux was inhabited by the Gallic tribe known as the Lexovii during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus and marketor Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans. 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. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards until in the fourteenth century the triple scourges of the 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 her death and is buried in the lady's chapel of the former cathedral that he had built. The bishopric of Lisieux was suppressed during the French revolution at the end of the 18th century. The city of Lisieux depends on the bishopric of Bayeux nowadays. In 1907 the first helicopter liftoff, by Paul Cornu, occurred in Lisieux. On June 6, 1944, during World War II, Liseux was bombed by Allied planes. More than 800 inhabitants were killed, and the city was partially destroyed. It was liberated by the Allies on August 23, 1944.