261 articles
Les Cars
Les Cars is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, about 25 km southwest of Limoges, known for the ruins of the Château des Cars.
Les Martys
Les Martys, Aude commune in the Montagne Noire, France, home to the Domaine des Forges, a major Roman iron-smelting center (about 50 BC to 270 AD) with a 2-3 million tonne slag heap, excavated from 1972 by Claude Domergue.
Lespignan
Lespignan, Hérault commune near Béziers with the Gallo-Roman villa of Vivios (classified 1993), Roman limestone quarries of the 1st–2nd centuries, a 1379 charter from Charles V, and the 1632 siege by Louis XIII.
Lille
Lille, known in Dutch as Rijsel, is a city in northern France near the Belgian border, the prefecture of the Nord department and center of the Lille European Metropolis.
Limetz-Villez
Limetz-Villez is a Yvelines commune (INSEE 78337) on the Seine and Epte at the Île-de-France–Normandy border, known for its Gallo-Roman villa with hypocaust baths, 12th-century church, and links to Monet and Girodon.
Limoges
Limoges, prefecture of Haute-Vienne in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, historical capital of Limousin; city of porcelain and medieval enamels, kaolin discovery 1768, UNESCO Creative City 2017, about 130,000 inhabitants.
Limony
Limony is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France, the most northerly in the department, on the right bank of the Rhône with about 780 inhabitants.
Lisieux
Lisieux, commune in Calvados, Normandy (19,645 inhabitants in 2023), is France's second pilgrimage site after Lourdes, centered on Sainte-Thérèse: her Basilica (1929–1954), Carmel, and Les Buissonnets; two-thirds destroyed in June 1944.
List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants
French communes with over 20,000 inhabitants are ranked using INSEE populations de référence (population municipale), produced by a five-year rotating census, authenticated by decree, and effective each 1 January.
Lucenay
Lucenay: name of several French communes, chiefly Lucenay (Rhône) in the Beaujolais, source of the white pierre de Lucenay used in Lyon Cathedral, and Lucenay-lès-Aix (Nièvre), on the Decize coal basin.
Luzarches
Luzarches, a commune in Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France, about 30 km north of Paris. Medieval market town and post relay on the Paris-Calais road; church of Saint-Côme-Saint-Damien classified 1912; population 5,008 (2023).
Lyon
Lyon, France, founded 43 BC as Roman Lugdunum, capital of the Gauls; silk capital of Europe with canut revolts; UNESCO World Heritage historic site since 1998; 519,127 inhabitants (2023).
Mâcon
Mâcon, prefecture of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France; Saône-river town and Southern Burgundy capital. 35,177 inhabitants (2023), Mâconnais wine region, Lamartine's hometown, TGV and A6/A40 road hub.
Mandelieu
Mandelieu (Mandelieu-La Napoule), Alpes-Maritimes commune on the Siagne mouth, Côte d'Azur: Roman villa and 1st-century pottery workshop at Minelle, lord Eucher around 400, Saracen destructions, castles of Avinionet, La Napoule rebuilt by Henry Clews, and Agecroft.
Marboué
Marboué, a commune in Eure-et-Loir (Centre-Val de Loire) near Châteaudun, France, population about 1,139, known for the Gallo-Roman villa of Mienne with its Steleco mosaic, used into the seventh century CE.
Marchélepot
Marchélepot is a commune in the Somme, Hauts-de-France, France, known for a Gallo-Roman villa with two nearly identical residences in one courtyard, a Magnentius solidus find, and a Merovingian cemetery.
Marignac
Marignac is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France, in the Occitanie region, lying in the Garonne valley about 30 km south of Saint-Gaudens.
Marne La Vallée
Marne-la-Vallée, a new town east of Paris created under the 1965 SDAURP with EPAMARNE (1972), spans three departments and four sectors; its Val d'Europe hosts Disneyland Paris, the region's dominant tourist employer.
Marseille
Marseille (Massalia) is France's second-largest city and oldest city, founded by Greeks from Phocaea in 600 BC on the Mediterranean. Key facts: 873,080 inhabitants (2021), France's largest port, lowest median income among the five biggest French cities, and the Marseille en Grand recovery plan.
Massiac
Massiac, Cantal commune in Haute-Auvergne, France (15500), namesake of the Brioude-Massiac antimony district (~32,500 t Sb), site of the Bonnac gold-mining failure of 1908-1912 and the Les Gravilles basalt quarry authorized for SAS CYMARO in 2025.
Maubeuge
Maubeuge, commune in Nord, Hauts-de-France, France, on the Sambre near Belgium; founded around Saint Aldegonde's 7th-century monastery, Vauban-fortified, ceded to France 1678, rebuilt by André Lurçat after 1940 destruction.
Meaux
Meaux (INSEE 77284) is a Seine-et-Marne commune in Île-de-France, seat of its arrondissement, with 56,905 inhabitants in 2023, a Marne-river cathedral city, the Musée de la Grande Guerre, and the LREF road link to Roissy under construction.
Membrey
Membrey, Haute-Saône commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France, with 219 inhabitants; known for its large Gallo-Roman villa ruins, discovered 1838, classified monument historique since 1846.
Menthon-St-Bernard
Menthon-Saint-Bernard, Haute-Savoie commune on Lake Annecy (1,891 inhabitants, 667 ha), known for its 10th-century château, Gallo-Roman baths rediscovered in 1865, and the 1908 Palace Hôtel.
Menton
Menton (INSEE 06083) is a commune of about 30,600 people in the Alpes-Maritimes, the easternmost town of the French Côte d'Azur between Monaco and Italy, known for its subtropical microclimate, its PGI lemon, and the Fête du Citron held each February since 1934.
Mercin-et-Vaux
Mercin-et-Vaux, a commune in the Aisne near Soissons, France, is known for the Gallo-Roman villa Le Quinconce with its T-shaped basin and painted décor, early medieval occupation, and the abbey of Notre-Dame de Soissons's lordship from 868.
Metz
Metz, prefecture of Moselle in Grand Est, France, on the Moselle-Seille confluence; ancient Divodurum Mediomatricorum, Austrasian capital, 122,572 inhabitants (2023), seat of Metz Métropole (236,399).
Meyzieu
Meyzieu, commune in the metropolis of Lyon, Rhône, France, east of Lyon near the airport. Rural village of 2,000 in 1946, near 30,000 by 2010; Gallo-Roman villa, medieval sites La Chapelle and Villardier.
Mézières-en-Santerre
Mézières-en-Santerre, a commune in the Somme (Hauts-de-France, France), canton of Moreuil, about 520 inhabitants, INSEE code 80545, mayor Paul Viollette, with a large Gallo-Roman villa called La Ziep.
Mézin
Mézin, Lot-et-Garonne commune in the Pays d'Albret, France; Cluniac Benedictine priory of Saint-Jean mentioned 1077, classified Romanesque-Gothic church of 1840, Calès Jupiter sanctuary, and a 19th-20th century cork industry center.