Mende, Lozère: Difference between revisions
Prefecture and commune in Occitania, France
Mende (French pronunciation: [mɑ̃d], Occitan pronunciation: [ˈmende]) 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,[3] was originally named Mimata,[citation needed] 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).
Even though Mende remains a relatively sparsely populated city (approximately 12,000 inhabitants), it remains the most important of the Lozère Department. In addition, it is the city-centre of the unique urban area of this department.
It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mende.
Geography[edit]
Situation[edit]
Mende
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 Mont Mimat and its black pine forest. Access is by the Côte de la Croix Neuve. 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 to the west.
Mende is one of the “gateway cities” (along with Millau, 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”.[4]
According to the INSEE, Mende is an urban commune without suburbs (ville isolée [isolated town]).[5] It lies at the centre of an functional urban area composed of 31 communes, the only one in the department of Lozère.[6]
The Causses[edit]
The town of Mende is built in the Lot Valley, within the area of the Grands Causses. The region of the Causses in Lozère is one of the four natural regions 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, Mont Mimat is the most significant. The causse is overhung by the Cross of Saint Privat. A first wooden cross was planted in 1900[9] or 1907.[10] It was replaced a few years later, on 8 July 1933, a Jubilee year, by a 12.5 metres (41 ft)-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.[10] 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.
Mende at the foot of Mont Mimat, view of the Causse d’Auge
Geology[edit]
The geology of the city of Mende is very dependent on the surrounding causses and streams that pass through them.[11] 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 Valdonnez 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[edit]
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 Mont Mimat. 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…
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