Livarot () is a former

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

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

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

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

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 ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of

Livarot-Pays-d'Auge Livarot-Pays-d'Auge (, literally ''Livarot Land of Auge'') is a commune in the department of Calvados, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the 22 former communes of Livarot (the seat), Auquainvi ...

. The population is composed of 2,052 inhabitants (in 2017) and the name of its inhabitants is ''Livarotais''. The town is home to many companies of renown such as the Georges Leroy factory, Graindorge cheese manufacturing which produces Livarot, among others. The commune gave its name to its cheese;

Livarot cheese Livarot is a French cheese of the Normandy region, originating in the commune of Livarot, and protected by an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) since 1975. It is a soft, pungent, washed rind cheese made from Normande cow's milk. The ...

. The La Fermière (CCLF) calvados cider is also produced in the commune.

Geography

Livarot is situated at the junction of the D4 and D579 roads. The nearest city is

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Albert Dauzat Albert Dauzat (; 4 July 1877 – 31 October 1955) was a French linguist specializing in toponymy and onomastics. Dauzat, a student of Jules Gilliéron, was a director of studies at the École des hautes études. Works * ''L'argot des poilus; di ...

and

Charles Rostaing Charles Rostaing (9 October 1904 – 24 April 1999) was a French linguist who specialised in toponymy.Obituar ...

, based on a false attestation of ''Livaron'' from 1137 (form and date wrong), described it as "obscure", while evoking a derivision of ''ivos'', an assumed Gallic word designating if, and declaring it unlikely. They perhaps resume in these previous assumptions. In reality, the term ''*ivos'' or ''*īvos'' is not attested and should include an asterisk. * Ernest Nègre, reasoning from this same erroneous form, considered that it might be from the Germanic name ''Liubwar'', which is followed by the suffix ''-o /-onem'' and that the final would be modified by attraction of names in ''-ot''. However, François de Beaurepaire notes that a Germanic name is never used with this suffix. *Dominique Fournier refuted ''Livaron'' (cacography attributed to Albert Dauzat, and badly dated) and based it on the actual form ''Livar(r)ou'', stemming from the ''Chronicle'' of

Robert of Torigni Robert of Torigni (also known as Roburtus de Monte) (c. 1110–1186) was a Norman monk, prior, abbot and twelfth century chronicler. Religious life Robert was born at Torigni-sur-Vire, Normandy c. 1110 most probably to an aristocratic family but ...

, to advance the hypothesis of a Gallo-Roman person named ''Libarius'' followed by the suffix of Gallic origin ''-avo'' which explains most of the words ending in ''-ou'' of Normandy.

History

Battle of Normandy

On 17 July 1944, the pharmacist and Mayor of Livarot brought first aid to

Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

following the strafing of his car by an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

aircraft, not far away, between the villages of

Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Val-de-Vie Val-de-Vie () is a commune in the department of C ...

and

Vimoutiers Vimoutiers () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. The finish line of the Paris–Camembert bicycle race is Vimoutiers. History In 1040 while besieging a nearby Norman castle, Alan III, Duke of Brittany died suddenly ...

. He was then evacuated, the same day, to the German military hospital in Bernay. Livarot was liberated on 19 August. Following Operation Paddle, the

British 7th Armoured Division The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname. After the Mu ...

was on the banks of the . The division then faced a strong resistance by the 272nd Division of the German infantry, but also suffered losses to

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...

from Allied aircraft. On 19 August, British artillery heavily bombed the area. The British arrived to seize a bridge, which hadn't been destroyed, across the river to

Saint-Michel-de-Livet Saint-Michel-de-Livet () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Livarot-Pays-d'Auge. north of Livarot. The

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

then learned that the Germans had abandoned Livarot and that the first British soldiers had entered the same day.

Heraldry

Politics and administration

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

is composed of 23 members, including the mayor and six assistants.

Demographics

In 2012, the municipality had 2,183 inhabitants. Since 2004, censuses in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants are held every five years (in 2008, 2013, 2018, etc. for Livarot) and legal municipal population are estimations in other years.In the table of censuses, by convention in Wikipedia, the principle has been retained for legal populations after 1999 to display in the table of censuses those populations corresponding to the year 2006, the first published legal population calculated in accordance with the concepts defined in Decree No. 2003-485 of 5 June 2003, and the years corresponding to an exhaustive census investigation of communes under 10,000 inhabitants, as well as the last legal population published by Insee. Livarot counted 2,654 inhabitants in 1975.

Economy

Places and monuments

*Former (1841), included in the title of the historic monuments. *The Church of Saint-Ouen from the 15th century, and very reworked. The gallery of the 19th century organ is classified as an historic monument object. *The old Bisson cheesemakery (1902), converted into a Museum of the workshops of iron art. *The L'Isle Manor (1912), former property of the Bisson. *The Graindorge cheesmakery, burned in 1999 and rebuilt in 2001. *Vestiges of an ancient castle which was owned by

Charles the Bad Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his fathe ...

, King of

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. *The menhir of the . Image:Usine LEROY, Livarot.JPG, The Leroy factory Image:Livarot - ancienne fromagerie Bisson.jpg, The old Bisson cheesmakery Image:Livarot - Manoir de l'Isle.jpg, Le manor of l'Isle Image:Pierre Tournante Livarot.jpg, The Pierre Tournante

Activity and events

Twinning

South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

since 1975

Sports

The ''Étoile Sportive Livarotaise'' ivarotaise Sports Starevolved two

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams in . The cycling section of the club has trained many riders such as father and son

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

and

Romain Lemarchand Romain Lemarchand (born 26 July 1987) is a French former road cyclist, who competed professionally between 2010 and 2017 for the , , , , and teams. Major results ;2007 : 5th Chrono des Nations Espoirs ;2008 : 5th Chrono des Nations Espoirs ;20 ...

, and also . Stage 7 of the

2015 Tour de France The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 4 July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and concluding on 26 July with the Champs-Élysées stage ...

is also planned to start in Livarot.

Events

The Livarot Cheese Fair is held every year in August.

Personalities linked to the commune

Charles II of Navarre Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his father ...

(1332-1387), King of Navarre and count of Évreux, owner of the old Castle. * (1732 to Livarot - 1832), parish priest of

Le Mesnil-Durand Le Mesnil-Durand () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Livarot-Pays-d'Auge.François Lemarchand (born in 1960 in Livarot), cyclist.