Castelnau-le-Lez (; oc, Castèlnòu de Les) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. Located on the outskirts of

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, it is situated around 3 km (1.8 mi) north of the city centre. In 2017, it had a population of 20,480.

Geography

Castelnau-le-Lez is served by Line 2 of the

Montpellier tramway The Montpellier tramway (french: Tramway de Montpellier) is a four-line tramway system in the city of Montpellier in Occitania, Occitanie, France. The tramway is owned by the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, and is operated by the Transpor ...

Population

History

Hundreds of Jewish children were hidden in the town of Castelnau-le-Lez during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Almost every home hid children, in some cases from multiple families. After the war, the children whose parents had survived were returned to them. The people of the town and the local priest were well aware of the situation and, at least tacitly, supported it.

Twin towns

Castelnau-le-Lez is twinned with: *

Plankstadt Plankstadt () is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...

, Germany *

Argenta, Emilia–Romagna Argenta ( Argentano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. It is located about southeast of Ferrara, and midway between Ferrara and Ravenna. Geography Argenta is situated in a flat agricultural region near the Vall ...

, Italy *

San Fernando de Henares San Fernando de Henares is a municipality in Spain, in the province and autonomous community of Madrid. It has an area of 39.9 km² and 41,380 inhabitants. Its agricultural production includes olives, cereals, vegetables, cattle and wool. Its ...

, Spain

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castelnaulelez Communes of Hérault

Geography

Population

History

Twin towns

See also

References