Livarot () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Livarot-Pays-d'Auge.Arrêté préfectoral 24 December 2015
The population is 2,045 inhabitants (in 2022) and the name of its inhabitants is Livarotais.
The town is home to many companies of renown such as the Georges Leroy factory, Graindorge cheese manufacturing which produces Livarot, among others. The commune gave its name to its cheese; Livarot cheese. The La Fermière (CCLF) calvados cider is also produced in the commune.
Geography Livarot is situated at the junction of the D4 and D579 roads. The nearest city is Caen, approximately to the north-west.
Toponymy The place is attested late in the form Livarrot in 1155,Charte confirmative de Goscelin Crespin et de son fils Guillaume, 1155, in « Histoire de l’abbaye du Bec », Études Lexoviennes I, 1915, p. 656. and Livar(r)ou in 1156 or 1157.Léopold Delisle, Chronique de Robert de Torigni, abbé du Mont-Saint-Michel, Le Brument, Rouen, vol. I, 1872, p. 207; entrée concernant l'an 1137.
The etymological explanation of this place name has no unanimity among toponymists:
Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, based on a false attestation of Livaron from 1137 (form and date wrong), described it as "obscure", while evoking a derivision of ivos, an assumed Gallic word designating if, and declaring it unlikely.Albert Dauzat et Charles Rostaing, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu en France, Librairie Guénégaud, Paris, 1989, , p. 406. They perhaps resume in these previous assumptions. In reality, the term *ivos or *īvos is not attested and should include an asterisk. Ernest Nègre, reasoning from this same erroneous form, considered that it might be from the Germanic name Liubwar, which is followed by the suffix -o /-onemErnest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France, vol. II, Librairie Droz, 1990, p. 865. and that the final would be modified by attraction of names in -ot. However, François de Beaurepaire notes that a Germanic name is never used with this suffix.François de Beaurepaire (préf. Marcel Baudot), Les Noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de l'Eure, Paris, A. et J. Picard, 1981 () (OCLC 9675154). Dominique Fournier refuted Livaron (cacography attributed to Albert Dauzat, and badly dated) and based it on the actual form Livar(r)ou, stemming from the Chronicle of Robert of Torigni, to advance the hypothesis of a Gallo-Roman person named Libarius followed by the suffix of Gallic origin -avo which explains most of the words ending in -ou of Normandy.Dominique Fournier, Les noms de lieux du pays de Livarot; vol. I : communes, anciennes paroisses, principaux cours d’eau, Éditions des Mortes-Terres, Saint-Georges-en-Auge, 2010, p. 40-42. Information reprise dans Ouest-France, 14 octobre 2010 (l'article n'est plus en ligne), Ouest-France.
History Battle of Normandy On 17 July 1944, the pharmacist and Mayor of Livarot brought first aid to Rommel following the strafing of his car by an Allied aircraft, not far away, between the villages of Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery and Vimoutiers. He was then evacuated, the same day, to the German military hospital in Bernay.
Livarot was liberated on 19 August. Following Operation Paddle, the British 7th Armoured Division was on the banks of the . The division then faced a strong resistance by the 272nd Division of the German infantry, but also suffered losses to friendly fire from Allied aircraft. On 19 August, British artillery heavily bombed the area. The British arrived to seize a bridge, which hadn't been destroyed, across the river to Saint-Michel-de-Livet, north of Livarot. The French Resistance then learned that the Germans had abandoned Livarot and that the first British soldiers had entered the same day.
Heraldry
Politics and administration + List of mayors Start End Name Party Other details1850 Alfred de NeuvilleAnnuaire du département du calvados, année 1850, p.357. 19191938Georges Bisson Cheese makerSeptember 1998March 2008Jeannine LouisSchool principalMarch 20082016Sébastien LeclercUMPManaging director, general counsel
The municipal council is composed of 23 members, including the mayor and six assistants.
Demographics
Economy Livarot cheese
Places and monuments Former (1841), included in the title of the historic monuments. The Church of Saint-Ouen from the 15th century, and very reworked. The gallery of the 19th century organ is classified as an historic monument object. The old Bisson cheesemakery (1902), converted into a Museum of the workshops of iron art. The L'Isle Manor (1912), former property of the Bisson. The Graindorge cheesmakery, burned in 1999 and rebuilt in 2001. Vestiges of an ancient castle which was owned by Charles the Bad, King of Navarre. The menhir of the .
Activity and events Twinning South Molton, United Kingdom since 1975
Sports The Étoile Sportive Livarotaise [Livarotaise Sports Star] evolved two football teams in .
The cycling section of the club has trained many riders such as father and son François and Romain Lemarchand, and also . Stage 7 of the 2015 Tour de France is also planned to start in Livarot.
Events The Livarot Cheese Fair is held every year in August.
Personalities linked to the commune Charles II of Navarre (1332-1387), King of Navarre and count of Évreux, owner of the old Castle. (1732 to Livarot - 1832), parish priest of Le Mesnil-Durand, Deputy of the clergy. (1802 Livarot - Livarot, 1894), politician. (born in 1946 in Livarot), Quebec radio host. François Lemarchand (born in 1960 in Livarot), cyclist.
See also Communes of the Calvados department
Notes
References
External links
A few pictures of Livarot and its markets at the beginning of the 20th century. The Livarot Tourist Office website.