Lormont (; oc, Larmont, ) 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
Gironde
Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...
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, ...
,
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquità nia or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...
, southwestern
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 ...
. It is a
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of the city of
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
and is adjacent to it on the northeast. Thus, it is a member of the intercommunality
Bordeaux Métropole
Bordeaux Métropole is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Bordeaux. It is located in the center of the Gironde department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in South West France. It represents about half of t ...
.
Etymology
The name Lormont comes from "Laureamontus" or "Laureomonte". The "laurier" (
laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
) was a wood sacred to the
Gauls
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
. For the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
it symbolized glory and the god Apollo. The
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
considered it to be a symbol of immortality. Until the revolution, Lormont was spelled 'Lormon' without t.
Geography
Lormont is located on the right bank of the river
Garonne
The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna
or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...
, 6 km north and downstream of Bordeaux. It has long been a small town in the Bordeaux area until its entry into the
CUB on 1 January 1968. It is a popular location due to different means of transport and roads present: once being accessible by gondolas and a national train station, the
Pont d'Aquitaine and the tram. The town has 735 hectares.
Lormont can be divided into several major areas:
*Carriet: located north of the town, near Bassens, it is surrounded by major access roads. Located in the area is the council pool, new educational facilities and a mixed housing renewal. The site is very hilly, which offer views on the Garonne and Bordeaux. Carriet is called "Garden City".
*Génicart: Initial period of construction was in the 1970s on the "plateau". Mainly composed of buildings associated with Urbanisation Priority Zones (ZUP) and is now a booming urban renewal.
*Le Bourg: Better known as the 'village' it is located towards the banks of the river. The houses located in this area are of a vintage era from where once you would find docks and naval shipyards which is now home to the Port Autonome of Bordeaux.
* Le Grand Tressan: Domaine du Manoir: located east of the city, this neighborhood consists of individual residences bordering the cities of
Sainte-Eulalie,
Yvrac,
Artigues-près-Bordeaux and
Carbon-Blanc
Carbon-Blanc (; oc, Carbon Blanc) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The commune was created in 1853 when it was separated from neighboring Bassens by decree of Napoleon III.
Population
Sist ...
.
*Les Iris-Lissandre: The district Iris is located along the Garonne and Génicart. Lissandre contains a large
Hermitage Park which is a large natural park with an area of 30 hectares. The castle of Iris and Iris Farm offers enjoyable moments of discovery.
*La Ramade: Currently under construction, the new district will open its doors to many people benefiting from new housing.
Access can be made by the
Rocade A630: Exits
2 (Lormont, Carbon Blanc, Bassens, Zone portuaire)
3 (Vieux Lormont)
26 (Artigues Moulinat, Yvrac, Quatre Pavillons)
27 (Lormont, Carbon Blanc)
Lormont lies in a floodplain in the extension area of the 'Entre – Deux – Mers', to confluence the two valleys of the Dordogne and Garonne, this space is made up of recent
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
sediments. Above 60 meters elevation, the soil consists of a limestone plateau.
The town is bordered by the Garonne and has two streams channelled, the Pimpin and the Garosses, which form an . Geothermal drilling was carried out in
Génicart and supplies thermal water to a Thermo center in located in the Hermitage Park. Work begun in January 2010 to build a complex of about 7000m
2.
Lormont is located on two hills framing a narrow valley, 'Cape deu Tureu' in the north and 'Roqua' to the south. Cycling enthusiasts challenge the steep climb of the côte du Pimpin and avenue des champs. The maximum altitude recorded in Lormont is 63 meters.
History
Located on the outskirts of
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, Lormont has always been a prosperous village,
fishing port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
, and a place for the transit of goods and people.
In 778, Charlemagne and Roland founded the Church of St. Martin. Around the year 1000, the Dukes of Aquitaine built the first
château
A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions.
Nowaday ...
de Lormont where
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
stayed. The northern half of Lormont in 1152 became a sauveté (Lordship) of the Archbishops and would have accommodated the princes of England, while the other half is establishing itself dependent
provost of Bordeaux.
In 1308,
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
resided at the château de Lormont where
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
was born, the son of the "
Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...
" in 1367. The town prospered and lived well with their vineyards, fishing and ferrying passenger from the port. Nevertheless, famine, pestilence and invasion of a Spanish fleet devastated the city. In 1570, Protestants burnt the Village, the church and the Hermitage.
In 1751, the
Intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
Tourny opened the road to Paris. Lormont became one of the most important communities of Bordeaux. The first French commercial steamboat called the "Garonne" was built in August 1818 by Chaigneau. They then employed 1,000 workers and built 500 within a century to become the "chantiers de la Garonne" in 1882. After the lines of the
TER
Ter or TER may refer to:
Places
* River Ter, in Essex, England
* Ter (river), in Catalonia
* Ter (department), a region in France
* Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy
* Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...
were opened, in 1901, Lormont played host to the first tramway at the place du port which allowed the
Bordelais discover the city.
By the 19th century, the Bordelais used to travel to Lormont for a day of leisure on Sunday afternoons.
During the
1960s
File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...
Lormont was subject to a grand
industrialisation
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
which doubled the size of the population. This decade saw the construction of the large housing blocks in the Carriet Génicart and the '4 Pavilions' shopping centre, the inauguration of the
Pont d'Aquitaine, the opening of school, sports, cultural and associative infrastructure. Large industries like
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
and
Ricard Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include:
* Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon
* Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), Colombian footballer
*Jean-François Ricard (bo ...
also took up residency in the area.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the city was selected in January 1969 following a competition and validated by the City Council, June 6, 1969. The form is of an English styled shield which recalls the ties that bound England and Lormont.
Administration
The current mayor is Jean Touzeau, in office since 1995 and re-elected in 2020.
[ The municipal council of the city is composed of 35 members including the mayor, 10 deputies, 3 community advisors, 17 municipal councilors and 4 councilors elected from the opposition.
]
List of mayors of Lormont
* 1790–1792 : Pierre Chaigneau
* 1792–1795 : Adrien Lorcher
* 1795–1799 : Mathurin Musset
* 1799–1815 : Pierre Dejaneau
* 1815–1821 : Paul Larrat
* 1821–1829 : Arnaud Chaigneau
* 1829–1831 : Arnaud Chaigneau Jr.
* 1831–1857 : Pierre Bichon
* 1857–1869 : Hyppolyte Gourdon
* 1869–1874 : Charles Chaigneau
* 1874–1878 : Arnaud Frédéric Bichon
* 1878–1881 : Ernest Bazille
* 1881–1887 : Jacques Gelot
* 1887–1894 : Pierre Barrailley
* 1895–1905 : Georges Duret
* 1905–1912 : André Syllas Mellon
* 1912–1925 : Hilaire Bachellerie
* 1925–1929 : Ernest Laloue
* 1929–1945 : René Gaudin
* 1945–1947 : André Dupin
* 1945–1965 : Paul Pprévost Sansac of Ttraversay
* 1965–1995 : Maurice Belleaud
* 1995– : Jean Touzeau
International relations
Lormon is twinned with:
*Castelldefels
Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017).
Geography and location
It is ...
(Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
) since 1988
Urban policy
On 21 November 2006, Lormont joined the Great Cities Project to improve the supply of equipment and housing, to promote interactions between neighborhoods and conurbation.
The district of Carriet will develop:
* The demolition of 375 social housing;
* The construction of 364 social housing;
* The creation of 2 District Centers (nursery and elementary schools, multi-sports centre, childcare center, public parks);
* Reworking of landscape/public gardens;
The district of Génicart will develop:
* The demolition of 897 social homes;
* The construction of 878 social housing;
* The construction of a cultural hub at Bois Fleuri (library, city archives, multi-purpose room);
* Reprocessing of public spaces for better road sharing and to encourage cross-traffic from the 3 tram stops;
The centre of the city will develop:
* The rehabilitation of the esplanade François Mitterrand with landscape and urban spaces;
* The establishment of a service center in the château Génicart containing several communal facilities;
* The establishment of further commercial activities in the district.
These projects, which accompanies the layout of the recently installed Bordeaux Tramway Line A
The Bordeaux tramway network (french: Tramway de Bordeaux) consists of four lines serving the city of Bordeaux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The system has a route length of , serving a total of 133 tram stops.
The first line of ...
on the avenue de la Libération, should basically modify the living conditions of the plateau.
Population
In 1999, youth accounted for 28.7% of the population, with residents over 75 years accounting for around 5.6% of the population. Since 1999, the town has had a 5% increase in households and 3.5% of dwellings. The operations of deconstruction and reconstruction efforts, through the urban renewal plan may be the cause of population decline. This trend should be reversed in coming years through the construction of new housing. The inhabitants are called ''Lormontais''.
Economy
The city's economic activity revolves around 3 main axes:
* Trade Points: The shopping centers of the 4 Pavillons, Génicart and Carriet.
* Cluster based logistics including port operations with the Port of Carriet and regional distribution platforms.
* 882 small businesses, industrial and commercial facilities located in the city.
''The industrial zones of the 4 Pavillons (26.5 ha), La Gardette (18 ha) and Lissandre (15 ha) account for nearly 59.5 hectares dedicated to businesses.''
Sites and Monuments
The Château of Lormont (Black Prince/Archbishops)
Built around 1060, the castle of Lormont probably saw Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
stay here during her marriage to King Louis VII of France. The Prince of Aquitaine, also known as the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...
lived there. The archbishops of Bordeaux possessed the château in the 14th century. In 1453, negotiations to end the Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...
also took place there. After having been successively destroyed and rebuilt, notably in 1626 by architect Henry Roche for the Cardinal Francis d'Escoubleau of Sourdis then to his brother Henri de Sourdis
Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, 20 February 1593 to 18 June 1645, was a French naval commander and Archbishop of Bordeaux.
Like many churchmen of his day, de Sourdis was a military man as well as a prelate. He fought in the Thirty Years' War an ...
. The castle became national property in 1789.
Today the castle is private property. After a major renovation it was converted to house offices and also a restaurant.
The Château du Bois Fleuri
Built around 1880, the Chateau du Bois Fleuri was owned by a wine merchant named Mr. Jouin. This monument of a neo-Gothic castle is inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The pa ...
in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
(Germany), of which was the inspiration for Walt Disney to create Sleeping Beauty's castle in 1959.
The Château Génicart
Built in a vineyard around 1854, Château Génicart was used to help house the army of the United States with 250 barracks erected in the gardens between 1917 and 1919. Today located in the heart of Lormont, it is the local trade hub.
The Château des Iris
In 1864, Mrs Blanc de Manville decided to build the castle of Iris. This is a tribute to the French flag by choosing colors that adorn it: slate blue, the white stone and red brick. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the castle of Iris was occupied by the Germans and in 1969 the building was sold to the Urban Community of Bordeaux by Poliet & Chausson, who were a cement works, which was located near the damaged building.
Château des Lauriers
In 1860, the castle was constructed by a Mr. Gradis, who built the château around large gardens and parks. Today the building. Today, it houses the national museum of health insurance, which presents the history and values of the French social security. Educational workshops. Audio guide. Free guided tour. website: www.musee-insurance maladie.com: Tel. : 05 56 06 19 88
Church of Saint Martin
The Church of St. Martin stands has stood in the same place since 1294. The patron saint of the parish, owes its name to Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...
. In 1451, then in ruins, it was consecrated by the archbishop Pey Berland, which offered the reconstruction once the Hundred Years War was over. After about 20 years of renovation, it is classified today as a historic monument.
Church Saint Esprit
The Church was in built in Carriet in 1966. Father Puyo, pastor of St. Martin oversaw the construction of this church with a cubic area of 400m2.
Communal laundry house
During the nineteenth century many communal laundries began to appear. They remained for many years an important and central meeting location, where the exchange of local information and gossip were traded. In 1880, the first water system to provide drinkable water was created. Today, five laundries still remain: les lavoirs de Lissandre, de Gelot, de la République, de Carriet and de Blanchereau.
Pont d'Aquitaine (bridge)
After many proposals to link the two banks of the Garonne, it was on 20 May 1960 that the work for the Pont d'Aquitaine started. It provides a connection to the motorway from Paris and also services the port and industrial areas of Ambés and Bassens. Opened on 6 May 1967 by Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''dà ...
, the bridge rises to almost 53 meters in height. It ook stacks of 105 meters and nearly 12,000 km of cable to suspend the bridge.
Hermitage Park
With nearly 30 acres, Hermitage park is located on the former site of the cement works, Poliet & Chausson. The park takes its name to an old chapel that was once located on the hillside. The park's highest point is 63 meters, with a network of trails allowing hikers to enjoy the views offered by the park on the Garonne and Bordeaux.
Trails
There are several well worn trails in the area offering hikers many different choices to undertake. There are walks that give the chance to discover the natural landscapes of the right bank of the river, while there are two walks that enable to hiker to explore the city.
Public Transport
TBC Network
* Tramway
Mérignac Centre ↔ La Gardette-Bassens-Carbon-Blanc / Floirac Dravemont
* Bus Network
''As of February 22, 2010''
Trans Gironde Network
Personalities
*Richard II of England
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...
* Lamine Diatta
*Christophe Dugarry
Christophe Jérôme Dugarry (born 24 March 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. His clubs include Bordeaux, Milan, Barcelona, Marseille, Birmingham City and Qatar SC. He was also a member of the France team ...
* Miguel Pacios
See also
*Communes of the Gironde department
The following is a list of the 535 Communes of France, communes of the Gironde Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2020):
References
External links
* (in French)
Office of Tourism
(in French)
{{authority control
Communes of Gironde