Mende, Lozère

Mende (, ) is a commune and the prefecture of the department of Lozère, in the region of Occitania, Southern France. Its inhabitants are called the ''Mendois''. The city, including the first traces of dwellings date back to 200 BC, was originally named ''Mimata'', probably in reference to the mountains that surround it.

Mende is located between Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, but also on the axis of Lyon–Saint-Étienne–Albi–Toulouse. The other important nearby towns are Aurillac and Saint-Flour (Cantal), Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), Rodez, Millau (Aveyron) and Alès and Nîmes (Gard Diocese of Mende.

Geography

Situation

Mende is situated in the high valley of the Lot, in a mountainous area, in the ''Pays du Gévaudan'', the Rieucros stream joins to it on its right bank. The city is overlooked (on the left bank of the Lot) by and its . Access is by the . On the right bank, residential areas extend over different causses, including the ''Causse d'Auge''. Located on the axis of Lyon-Toulouse, the city has long been a commercial crossroads between the Auvergne, Rhone and the Languedoc.

The commune is bordered by Chastel-Nouvel to the north, Badaroux to the east, Lanuéjols to the southeast, Brenoux and Saint-Bauzile to the south, Balsièges to the southwest, and Barjac and Servières, Lodève, Alès and Ganges) for the site of the Causses and Cévennes, of world heritage by UNESCO under the inscription "Les Causses and Cevennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral cultural landscape".

According to the INSEE, Mende is an urban commune without suburbs (''ville isolée'' solated town. It lies at the centre of an functional urban area composed of 31 communes, the only one in the department of Lozère.

The Causses

The town of Mende is built in the Lot Valley, within the area of the . The region of the Causses in Lozère is one of the four of Lozère, with the Margeride, the Aubrac and the Cévennes. The city is nestled in the middle of different Causses which form as natural barriers. However, over the 20th century, urbanisation began to extend beyond these limits.

Of the Causses, is the most significant. The causse is overhung by the Cross of . A first wooden cross was planted in 1900 or 1907.''Laissez vous conter Mende & Lot en Gévaudan - Ses croix remarquables'', guide édité par le pays d'art et d'histoire de Mende & Lot en Gévaudan, p.13 It was replaced a few years later, on 8 July 1933, a Jubilee year, by a -high iron cross. Until 1945, this cross was the place of large gatherings in honour of Mendois soldiers. This cross has been illuminated since the summer of 1965. The mount also houses the chapel where Privat, the martyr of the Gévaudan, withdrew to. At its foot lies the area of Vabre where can be found the first remains of houses in the city. Opposite this is the Causse d'Auge (northeast) and the Causse du Crouzet (northwest), and the Margeride mountains beyond. To the west is Causse de Changefège, located between Mende and Barjac, which complements the borders of the city.

Geology

The geology of the city of Mende is very dependent on the surrounding causses and streams that pass through them. The Mont Mimat and the Causse de Changefège are composed of limestone of the "Grands Causses", thus presenting abrupt edges. The other causses (as well as the butte de Fontanille) are composed of limestone of the "Petits Causses" (without these edges). The Lot Valley is composed of marl. The Valley, in the south of Mende, is full of blue marl, leaving one to presuppose that the marl of the town of Mende would be, in part, of the same origin. Finally, the various streams (the Rieucros) of the causses of the north of the city are lined by mica-schist.

Hydrology

The city of Mende was built on the banks of the Lot. But the Lot is not the only presence of water in the city: Indeed, it has several sources, including those of . The most significant of them is located in the Vabre district, close to the first houses. These sources have also often been channeled and feed the underground water system of the city, visible on the surface through numerous fountains and the old wash house. The streets, such as the ''Rue du Torrent'', attest to the passage of water from Mont Mimat.

To the north, on the other side of the Lot, the sources are much more distant, but water is present in the stream known as Rieucros.

Climate

Mende is subject to an oceanic stream that comes from the Aubrac and Mediterranean and flows from the Cévennes. The department of Lozère, Mende in particular, benefit from insolation (or sunlight) similar to that of Toulouse with approximately 2,069 hours of sunshine per year. The city, away from the mountains that surround it, has a more protected climate than the highlands of Gévaudan: So, average temperatures oscillate between and . With respect to annual precipitation, data for the Lozère is between , depending on the exposure of the regions, with up to 50 days of snow per year.

Between 1971 and 2000, monthly rainfall ranged from (March) and (September).

In more detail, here are some statements in Mende records since 1985:

Routes and transportation

Mende is located in the centre of the Lozère department and therefore centralises the roads. The city has rail and air access, but the Lot is not navigable (too shallow) as with all the rivers of the department (except for recreational canoeing, or in rare exceptions for the transport of people such as the crossing of the Tarn towards La Malène).

Road network

Mende is located on the , linking Lyon and Toulouse. The road comes from Balsièges to the west and Badaroux to the east. This axis can be reached easily. Haute-Loire and Ardèche and Aveyron is to the west via La Canourgue-Banassac. A road doubling project is underway in the department, bypassing Mende from the north. This doubling is however a long project (1993), having had several outlines and some opposition. The project was finally abandoned in October 2012 making Lozère a department without draft dual carriageways on RN 88. Indeed, its neighbours Aveyron and Tarn continue their projects of dual carriageways between Rodez and Toulouse with all expected to be commissioned in December 2015. The work of the Rodez - Séverac section should be completed by the end of 2019. The same will be the case for Haute-Loire, which continues its road access. However, the workarounds of Mende and Langogne are budgeted. These projects in adjacent departments will reach major cities nearby to Mende (Rodez, Albi, Toulouse, Le Puy and even Lyon). Finally, the economic impact or the absence of dual carriageways in Lozere must be assessed in the medium and long term.

Furthermore, a viaduct (the Rieucros Viaduct) commissioned in December 2009 will be used to ensure a first bypass of Mende. It connects the industrial area of the Causse d'Auge to the technological centre of Valcroze (and the RD 42) and also helps to relieve the traffic connecting the districts north and northwest of the city. de la rocade ouest de Mende, et du viaduc de Rieucros

The RN 88 deviation from Mende should be the first from Pelouse to reach up to the Causse d'Auge with an "expressway" configuration. Then it would continue on the D 806 (ex north) to the Rieucros Viaduct, and then a new section of the viaduct to the Mende exit in the hamlet of La Thébaïde (west bypass). These two sections will only be of two lanes. Subsequently, the expressway from the Causse d'Auge will be directly linked to the A 75.

Another national road, the RN 106, formerly ran through the city. This name is no longer valid for the section coming from the Gard (it is then of the RN 88 on the stretch between Balsièges and Mende). The northern part of the road was decommissioned in 2007 and now bears the name of D 806. This stretch goes from Mende to Saint-Chély-d'Apcher (and the A75 autoroute) via Chastel-Nouvel.

Secondary access is provided by the RD 42 from the northwest, which joins the RN 88 at Barjac, and by the RD 25 which, passing through the , crosses before arriving at the Valdonnez.

Rail network

Mende features an SNCF railway station, located on the railway line of the , between Le Monastier (the ) and La Bastide - Saint-Laurent-les-Bains