Luçon

Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Luçon

Coat of arms

Luçon

Location within Pays de la Loire region

Luçon

Coordinates: 46°27′20″N 1°09′53″W / 46.4556°N 1.1647°WCoordinates: 46°27′20″N 1°09′53″W / 46.4556°N 1.1647°W

Country

Luçon

Pays né de la mer

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Pierre-Guy Perrier

Area¹

31.52 km² (12.17 sq mi)

Population (2006)²

10,053

• Density

320/km² (830/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

85128 / 85400

Elevation

1–40 m (3.3–131.2 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Luçon (pronounced: [lysɔ̃]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais.

Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luçon (comprising the Vendée), where Cardinal Richelieu once served as bishop.

Once a Roman town (‘Lucionensis’), Luçon takes its name from the Latin word for the northern pike (Lucius) and this fish decorates the coat of arms to this day. The town had an important position on the Roman road from Les Sables d'Olonne to Niort, and was a sea port in the Roman period.

During the Dark Ages, a monastery was founded here by Saint Philbert. The town was sacked by the Normans in 846 and plundered by the Vikings in 853. In the Middle Ages, the receding seas left Luçon inland, but a canal allowed it to maintain a port connected to the Atlantic. The town remained an important commercial centre throughout this period.

Luçon became the spiritual capital of the Vendee in 1317, when Pope John XXII located the seat of the Diocese of Luçon here. Today, the town is perhaps most famous for its association with Armand Jean du Plessis (Cardinal Richelieu). Before becoming a minister of Louis XIII, Richelieu was the Bishop of Luçon. During his tenure he directed the rebuilding of much of the town after it was destroyed during the French Wars of Religion. This included restoring the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame, whose 85-metre spire dominates the countryside for miles. Within the Cathedral can be found a church organ donated by Napoleon III, while a statue of Richelieu stands outside.

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Wikipedia