Barcelonnette
Barcelonnette | |
---|---|
Subprefecture and commune | |
Coordinates: 44°23′12″N 6°39′11″E / 44.3867°N 6.6531°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
Department | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence |
Arrondissement | Barcelonnette |
Canton | Barcelonnette |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Sophie Vaginay-Ricourt[1] |
Area 1 | 16.42 km2 (6.34 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 2,539 |
• Density | 150/km2 (400/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 04019 /04400 |
Elevation | 1,115–2,680 m (3,658–8,793 ft) (avg. 1,132 m or 3,714 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Barcelonnette (French pronunciation: [baʁsəlɔnɛt]; Occitan: Barciloneta de Provença, also Barcilona; obsolete Italian: Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern French Alps, at the crossroads between Provence, Piedmont and the Dauphiné, and is the largest town in the Ubaye Valley. The town's inhabitants are known as Barcelonnettes.
Toponymy
Barcelonnette was founded and named in 1231, by
In the
The inhabitants of the town are called Barcelonnettes, or Vilandroises in Valéian.[6]
History
Origins
The Barcelonnette region was populated by Ligures from the 1st millennium BC onwards, and the arrival of the Celts several centuries later led to the formation of a mixed Celto-Ligurian people, the Vesubians. Polybius described the Vesubians as belligerent but nonetheless civilised and mercantile, and Julius Caesar praised their bravery.[9][10][11] The work History of the Gauls also places the Vesubians in the Ubaye Valley.[12]
Following the Roman conquest of Provence, Barcelonnette was included in a small province with modern Embrun as its capital and governed by Albanus Bassalus. This was integrated soon afterwards into Gallia Narbonensis.[13] In 36 AD, Emperor Tiberius transferred Barcelonnette to the province of the Cottian Alps. The town was known as Rigomagensium under the Roman Empire and was the capital of a civitas (a provincial subdivision),[14] though no Roman money has yet been found in the canton of Barcelonnette.[15]
Medieval town
The town of Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 by
Control of the area in the
Ancien Régime
During
In 1588 the troops of
Between 1614 and 1713, Barcelonnette was the seat of one of the four prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Senate of Nice.
A "significant" part of the town's inhabitants had, by the 16th century, converted to Protestantism, and were repressed during the French Wars of Religion.[21]
The
Revolution
Barcelonnette was one of few settlements in Haute-Provence to acquire a
- the lodge of Saint-Jean-d'Écosse des amis réunis, affiliated with the Saint-Jean-d'Écosse lodge in Marseille;
- the lodge of Saint-Jean, affiliated with the Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem d'Avignon lodge founded in 1749.[23][24]
In March 1789, riots took place as a result of a crisis in wheat production.
This agitation continued in the Ubaye Valley; a new revolt broke out on 14 June,[27] and famine was declared in April 1792. The patriotic society of the commune was one of the first 21 created in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in spring 1792, by the envoys of the departmental administration.[28] Around a third of the male population attended at the club.[29] Another episode of political violence occurred in August 1792.
Barcelonnette was the seat of the District of Barcelonnette from 1790 to 1800.
Modern history
In December 1851, the town was home to a movement of republican resistance towards
Between 1850 and 1950, Barcelonnette was the source of a wave of
During the
The 11th Battalion of
Geography
Barcelonnette is situated in the wide and fertile Ubaye Valley, of which it is the largest town. It lies at an elevation of 1132 m (3717 ft) on the right bank of the Ubaye River, and is surrounded by mountains which reach peaks of over 3000 m;[34] the tallest of these is the Needle of Chambeyron at 3412 m. Barcelonnette is situated 210 km from Turin, 91 km from Nice and 68 km from Gap.[35]
Biodiversity
As a result of its relief and geographic situation, the Ubaye Valley has an "abundance of plant and animal species".
Climate
The Ubaye Valley has an alpine climate and winters are harsh as a result of the altitude,[37] but there are only light winds as a result of the relief.[36] There are on average almost 300 days of sun and 700 mm of rain per year.[36]
Hazards
None of the 200 communes of the department is entirely free of seismic risk; the canton of Barcelonnette is placed in zone 1b (low risk) by the determinist classification of 1991 based on seismic history,[38] and zone 4 (average risk) according to the probabilistic EC8 classification of 2011.[39] The commune is also vulnerable to avalanches, forest fires, floods, and landslides.[39] Barcelonnette is also exposed to the possibility of a technological hazard in that road transport of dangerous materials is allowed to pass through on the RD900.[40][41]
The town has been subject to several orders of natural disaster: floods and mudslides in 1994 and 2008, and landslides in 1996 and 1999. The strongest recorded earthquakes in the region occurred on 5 April 1959, with its epicentre at Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye and a recorded intensity of 6.5 at Barcelonnette, and on 17 February 1947, with its epicentre at Prazzo over the Italian border.[42]
Architecture
- The town hall was constructed in the 1930s after the destruction of the Saint Maurice chapel in July 1934.[43] Its pediment was originally from the old Dominican convent and was identified in 1988.[44] No houses in the town date from before the 17th century, the town having been rebuilt after the fire of 1628. The old hospital in the town dates from 1717.[45]
- The old gendarmerie on Place Manuel was originally constructed to house the subprefecture in 1825 in a neoclassical style, and its façade occupies one entire side of the square. Place Manuel was named after the Restoration politician Jacques-Antoine Manuel; the fountain in the centre of the square contains his image sculpted by David d'Angers.[46]
- The parish church was originally built in the Middle Ages, but was destroyed in the fire of 1628. It was quickly reconstructed between 1634 and 1638, and further between 1643 and 1644. This was later demolished in 1926–27 to allow the construction of the current church, though this still contains the steeple from the 17th-century reconstruction.[47]
- The Cardinalis tower was constructed in the 14th century as a bell tower for the Dominican convent, which was founded on the bequest of Hugh of Saint-Cher. It was damaged in the wars of the 17th century and was rebuilt, though parts still exist from the original construction. It is classed as a monument historiqueof France.
The subprefecture has been situated since 1978 in a maison mexicaine, the Villa l'Ubayette, constructed between 1901 and 1903.
Population
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1968 | 2,476 | — |
1975 | 2,636 | +0.90% |
1982 | 2,735 | +0.53% |
1990 | 2,976 | +1.06% |
1999 | 2,815 | −0.62% |
2007 | 2,766 | −0.22% |
2012 | 2,634 | −0.97% |
2017 | 2,598 | −0.27% |
Source: INSEE[48] |
In 1471, the community of Barcelonnette (including several surrounding parishes) comprised 421 fires (households). In 1765, it had 6,674 inhabitants,
Economy
The city is mainly a tourist and resort centre, serving many ski lodges. The Pra-Loup resort is 7 km from Barcelonnette; Le Sauze is 5 km away. It and the Ubaye Valley are served by the Barcelonnette – Saint-Pons Airfield. Notably, Barcelonnette is the only subprefecture of France not served by rail transport; the Ubaye line which would have linked Chorges to Barcelonnette was never completed as a result of the First World War and the construction of the Serre-Ponçon Dam between 1955 and 1961.
Education
An
In 2010 the lycée André-Honnorat opened a boarding school aimed at gifted students of poorer social backgrounds, in order to give them better conditions in which to study.[54][55] It is located in the Quartier Craplet, formerly the garrison of the 11th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins and then the French Army's Centre d'instruction et d'entraînement au combat en montagne (CIECM).
Transportation
International links
Barcelonnette is twinned with:
- Valle de Bravo, Mexico
It is also the site of a Mexican honorary consulate.[56]
Notable residents
- Jacques-Antoine Manuel (1775–1827), lawyer, politician and orator.[57]
- Paul Reynaud (1878–1966), liberal politician and lawyer
- Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932–2007), physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1991
- Daniel Spagnou (born 1940), UMP politician
- Bruno Dary (born 1952), general and military governor of Paris
- Pierre Bottero (1964–2009), a French writer.
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France, Éd. Larousse, 1968, pp. 1693–1694.
- ^ a b Charles Rostaing, Essai sur la toponymie de la Provence depuis les origines jusqu'aux invasions barbares, Laffite Reprints, Marseille, 1973 (1st edition 1950), p 91
- ^ Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France : étymologie de 35 000 noms de lieux, Genève : Librairie Droz, 1990. Collection Publications romanes et françaises, volume CVCIII. Volume III : Formations dialectales (suite) ; formations françaises § 30208 § 30208
- ^ a b François Arnaud, Gabriel Maurin, Le langage de la vallée de Barcelonnette, Paris : Champion, 1920 – Re-edited in 1973, Marseille: Laffitte Reprints
- ISBN 2-906162-28-0
- ^ Chapter 2: Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino, Romans at Mons Taber, Town Hall of Barcelona
- ^ Vallis Montium : Histoire de la vallée de Barcelonnette, p.12 and p.15
- ^ Recherche sur la géographie ancienne et les antiquités du département des Basses-Alpes, p. 30, le col de la Magdeleine étant l'ancien nom du col de Larche, Colle della Maddalena in Italian.
- ^ Dictionnaire historique et topographique de la Provence ancienne et moderne, page 115
- ^ Histoire des Gaules, et des conquêtes des Gaulois depuis leur origine jusqu'à la fondation de la Monarchie française, 1754
- ^ Vallis Montium : Histoire de la vallée de Barcelonnette, p.16
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, Digne, Imprimerie Louis Jean, 1986, p. 15
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, p. 37
- ^ a b Under the direction of Édouard Baratier, Georges Duby, and Ernest Hildesheimer, Atlas historique. Provence, Comtat Venaissin, principauté d'Orange, comté de Nice, principauté de Monaco, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1969, p. 163
- ^ Google Books: Aristide Mathieu Guilbert, Histoire des Villes de France. First book, pp. 674-676, Paris, 1844
- ^ "HISTOIRE d'ALLOS TROISIEME PARTIE CHAPITRE V (19) de 1598–1628". jc.clariond.free.fr. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ISBN 978-2-07-035971-4, p. 311
- ^ Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, "Histoire de l'Arrondissement de Barcelonnette Archived December 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine", Préfecture des Alpes de Haute-Provence, accessed 23 June 2012
- ^ Gabriel Audisio and Jean Jalla, Les protestants de la vallée de Barcelonnette, expanded and updated edition from the brochure Les Vaudois à Barcelonnette
- ^ La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes, Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p 107
- ^ Robert-Henri Bautier, "Les loges maçonniques (seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle)", maps 120 and 121 and commentary in Baratier, Duby & Hildesheimer, Atlas historique
- ^ Patrice Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes, Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p. 292
- ^ La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes, Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p. 11
- ^ Michel Vovelle, "Les troubles de Provence en 1789", map 154 and commentary, in Baratier, Duby & Hildesheimer, Atlas historique
- ^ Annales de Haute-Provence, p. 15
- ^ Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", pp. 296–301
- ^ Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", p. 320
- ^ AJPN, "Département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence en 1939-1945", Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période nazie dans les communes de France, accessed 25 May 2012
- ^ AJPN, "89e CTE", Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période nazie dans les communes de France, accessed 27 May 2012
- ISBN 2-908103-54-0, p. 11
- ^ Conseil général des AHP, "Un second souffle pour l'Ubaye?", Le Magazine du conseil général, no. 70 June 2009, p. 6
- ^ Votre entreprise à Barcelonnette, Les distances, barcelonnette.com
- ^ a b c d « Au cœur des Alpes « sèches » Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine, www.mercantour.eu
- ^ « Alpes-de-Haute-Provence », www.laprovence.com, 19 juin 2007.
- ^ Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Archived September 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (DDRM), 2008, p. 39
- ^ a b Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, transport and housing, Notice communale Archived 2014-07-23 at the Wayback Machine on the Gaspar database, uploaded 8 July 2011, accessed 30 June 2012
- ^ Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs, p. 95
- ^ Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs, p. 80
- ^ BRGM, "Epicentres of distant tremors (greater than 40 km) felt in Barcelonnette Archived January 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine", Sisfrance, accessed 30 June 2012
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, p. 212
- ^ Arrêté du 30 décembre 1988, Palissy, accessed 25 October 2008
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, p. 434
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, p. 533
- ^ Raymond Collier, La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique, pp. 193 and 392-393
- ^ a b c d Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Barcelonnette, EHESS (in French).
- ISBN 2-908975-15-7, p. 17
- ^ Renaud Alberny et al., "École primaire", p. 19
- ^ Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Liste des lycées publics Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, published 6 April 2010, Accessed 31 October 2010
- ^ Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Liste des écoles de la circonscription de Sisteron-Sud Archived 2010-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, published 27 April 2010, accessed 31 October 2010
- ^ Académie d'Aix-Marseille, Installation des 46 premiers internes dans le premier internat d'excellence de l'Académie à Barcelonnette Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, published 3 September 2010, accessed 21 September 2010
- ^ Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Liste des collèges publics Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, published 6 April 2010, accessed 31 October 2010
- ^ Ambassade du Mexique en France : Présence du Mexique en France Archived March 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 609. .
External links
- Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). p. 393.
- Tourism website (in French)