Title: Lodève Content: Lodève  is a commune in the Hérault département in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is a subprefecture of the department and also the capital of the arrondissement of the same name. ==History== Lodève started as the capital of a Celtic tribe before becoming the Roman city Luteva (also known as Forum Neronis). It was a centre for textile production under Louis XV and was home to one of only two royal factories for tapestry, the other being the one in Paris. ==Geography== Lodève is in the north of the Hérault department, where the plains rise up to the Larzac plateau. It is a narrow valley of the Lergue river, a tributary of the Hérault river. The commune has an area of and is at an altitude of about above sea level. The city of Montpellier is to the east of Lodève at and Béziers is to the west at . Lodève is at from the Mediterranean Sea. The commune of Lodève is surrounded by the communes Soumont, Olmet-et-Villecun, Poujols, Fozières, Les Plans, Le Puech, Soubès, Lauroux, Lavalette, Saint-Étienne-de-Gourgas, Le Bosc and Usclas-du-Bosc.  ===Climate=== The climate of Lodève, in the Köppen climate classification, is Csb - Mediterranean climate with template summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of Lodève are known, in French, as Lodévois (women: Lodévoises). With a population of 7,381, Lodève has a population density of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Lodève Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:9000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2009 text:2009 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 7556 bar:1975 from:0 till: 7910 bar:1982 from:0 till: 8378 bar:1990 from:0 till: 7602 bar:1999 from:0 till: 6900 bar:2009 from:0 till: 7361 bar:2014 from:0 till: 7381 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 7556 fontsize:S text: 7,556 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 7910 fontsize:S text: 7,910 shift:(-18,5) bar:1982 at: 8378 fontsize:S text: 8,378 shift:(-18,5) bar:1990 at: 7602 fontsize:S text: 7,602 shift:(-18,5) bar:1999 at: 6900 fontsize:S text: 6,900 shift:(-18,5) bar:2009 at: 7361 fontsize:S text: 7,361 shift:(-18,5) bar:2014 at: 7381 fontsize:S text: 7,381 shift:(-18,5) Lodève forms with other seven communes the urban area of Lodève with a population of 9,780 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Lodève, formed by nine communes with a population of 9,977 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . == Administration == Lodève is a subprefecture of the Hérault department, the capital of the arrondissement of Lodève and the administrative centre  of the canton of Lodève. It is part of the intercommunality Lodévois et Larzac . === Sister cities === Lodève is twinned with: * South Kirkby and Moorthorpe, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom == Sites of interest == * Lodève Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Fulcran de Lodève), parts of which date from the sixth century. * Museum Fleury (temporary art exhibitions and archeology permanent collection). * L'Atelier national du tapis de Lodève, the French state carpet-making workshop. == Gallery == File:Lodeve Pont de Fer.jpg|The Pont de Fer ('Iron Bridge', 19th century), Lodève. File:Lodève,la cathédrale.jpg|Saint-Fulcran de Lodève cathedral. File:Lodève (Hérault, Fr) cathédrale.JPG|Lodève cathedral. File:Lodève mairie.JPG|Town hall of Lodève. ==Related pages== * Arrondissement of Lodève * Communes of the Hérault department