Lescar

Lescar
Cathedral
Lescar
Location within Aquitaine region  Lescar
Coordinates: 43°20′01″N 0°26′05″W / 43.3336°N 0.4347°WCoordinates: 43°20′01″N 0°26′05″W / 43.3336°N 0.4347°W
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Lescar
Intercommunality	Pau-Pyrénées
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	René Claverie
Area^1	27 km^2 (10 sq mi)
Population (2006)^2	10,206
• Density	380/km^2 (980/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	64335 / 64230
Elevation	142–203 m (466–666 ft) (avg. 154 m or 505 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Lescar (Occitan: Lescar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.

Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, the location providing the name for the later region of Béarn.^[1]

In 841, Benearnum was razed by the Vikings and Morlaàs became the Béarnaise capital. However, from the twelfth century a new city grew up at Lescar. Lescar Cathedral was built during this period, and was the seat of the Diocese of Lescar until 1801.^[2] The remains of the last monarchs of all Navarre Queen Catherine I (†1517) and King John III (†1516) lie at the cathedral.

Today, Lescar is primarily a suburb of the nearby town of Pau. The commune of Lescar has joined together with 13 neighbouring communes to establish the intercommmunality of Pau-Pyrénées which provides a framework within which local tasks are carried out together.

Population

Historical population of Lescar

Year	1896	1901	1936	1954	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Population	1630	1554	1750	1855	2194	2953	4164	5186	5793	8191	10,206
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

Twin towns

• L'Alfàs del Pi, Spain

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

• INSEE commune file

1. "Alphabetical Catalogue of Sites and Peoples of Roman Gaul - Benearnum = Beneharnum / Civ. Benarnensium". University of South Carolina. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
2. French Atlantic Coast. Michelin Apa Publications Ltd. October 2007. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-906261-17-7.