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Mende: The Town.
Surrounded by the beautiful valley of the Lot, and the Cevennes. Mende is a small country town, that is also the capital of the Lozere department. Its narrow streets, attractive fountains, and old corbelled houses, are full of discoveries. The areas native son Pope Urban V, had the cathedral built in the 14th century. There is an old synagogue and Convent of the Carmelites, perhaps built by the same builder in the 13th and 14th centuries. Of particular note are the doors of the houses, each one exhbiting an individuality, that tells the history of the town from the 13th to the 20th century
Walk along the river Lot to see the Notre Dame Bridge, dating from the 13th Century. Look over the town with its ship hull's rooves.
The cathedral dates from 1368, when it was built under the orders of Urbain V, the pope in Avignon, who was originally from Gévaudan. A hundred years later it was consecrated.
The tall steeples were erected at the beginning of the 16th century, where one carried the "Non Pareille", a bell with an exceptional diameter. Its long tongue can still be seen inside the cathedral! During the religious wars between protestant and catholic the bells were destroyed as well as part of the building. The cathedral was rebuilt identically, in a plain style. Inside there are 18thC Aubusson tapestries as well as beautiful 17th C woodworks (ancient rood screen and canons' choir stall), as well as a black 12 century Virgin from the 12th century.
Mende: Ignon-Fabre Museum
Visit the Ignon Fabre Museum in the old bishops house at Buisson de Ressouches (1665). Here you will see local decorative art, archeaology, paintings, and information about the area.
Mende: Tower of the Penitents
The 12th century tower of the village ramparts, with a chapel beside it, will soon be home to the Penitents' museum.
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