Lescar | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Lescar | |
Lescar Lescar | |
| Coordinates: 43°20′01″N 0°26′05″W / 43.3336°N 0.4347°W / 43.3336; -0.4347 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Pyrénées-Atlantiques |
| Arrondissement | Pau |
| Canton | Lescar, Gave et Terres du Pont-Long |
| Intercommunality | CA Pau Béarn Pyrénées |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Valérie Revel1 |
Area 1 | 27 km2 (10 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)2 | 9,455 |
| • Density | 350/km2 (910/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| 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. | |
Lescar (French pronunciation: [lɛskaʁ] ⓘ; Occitan: Lescar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.3
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.4
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 1801.5 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 30 neighbouring communes to establish the Communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées which provides a framework within which local tasks are carried out together.
Population
Historical population | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: EHESS6 and INSEE (1968-2023)7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Twin towns
L'Alfàs del Pi, Spain
References
References
- "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
- INSEE commune file
- "Alphabetical Catalogue of Sites and Peoples of Roman Gaul - Benearnum = Beneharnum / Civ. Benarnensium". University of South Carolina. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
- French Atlantic Coast. Michelin Apa Publications Ltd. October 2007. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-906261-17-7.
- Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Lescar, EHESS (in French).
- Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE