Lavaudieu

Lavaudieu
Commune
Bridge on the Senouire River and St. André abbey.
Coat of arms
Lavaudieu Lavaudieu
Coordinates: 45°15′49″N 3°27′17″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Haute-Loire
Arrondissement	Brioude
Canton	Brioude
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Pascal Piroux
Area 1	17.54 km2 (6.77 sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	43117 /43100
Elevation	438–727 m (1,437–2,385 ft) (avg. 550 m or 1,800 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Lavaudieu (French pronunciation: ​[lavodjø]) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.

Geography

The village lies on the right bank of the Senouire, which flows west through the commune.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1793 764 —     1806 705 −7.7% 1821 671 −4.8% 1831 771 +14.9% 1841 856 +11.0% 1851 833 −2.7% 1861 801 −3.8% 1872 764 −4.6% 1881 762 −0.3% 1891 658 −13.6% 1901 620 −5.8% 1911 521 −16.0%

Year Pop. ±% 1921 440 −15.5% 1931 415 −5.7% 1946 342 −17.6% 1954 299 −12.6% 1962 258 −13.7% 1968 242 −6.2% 1975 229 −5.4% 1982 237 +3.5% 1990 238 +0.4% 1999 225 −5.5% 2008 228 +1.3% 2017 243 +6.6%

Sights

• Romanesque Lavaudieu Abbey, otherwise Lavaudieu Priory (Abbaye Saint-André de Lavaudieu), built by St Robert, the first abbot of La Chaise-Dieu, in the 11th century, which was at first a Benedictine priory, and later a house of secular canonesses from the Auvergnat nobility. It was raised to the status of abbey in 1719.

See also

• Communes of the Haute-Loire department