Blieux (; oc, Blieus) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

History

The commune of Blieux first appeared on maps in 1100. Much later, during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, records show that the residents of Blieux had created a political club (patriotic society), which was very common at the time. (See Jacobin Club).

Name of the commune

According to Ernest Nègre, the first recorded name for the commune, ''Bleus'', was derived from the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

word ''bleusse'', meaning 'dry'. This was likely a reference to the local soil. By contrast, Charles Rostaing argues that the name derives from the pre-Indo-European root word, ''*BL'', meaning 'mountain in the form of a spur'. La Melle, the name of a nearby hamlet, comes from the Celtic word, ''mello'', meaning an elevated location.Rostaing, p. 206

Economy

Historically, Blieux was a pastoral community, with a yearly alpine grazing cycle known as

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower val ...

. As with much of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, tourism the primary source of economic activity today.

Geography

The village is located at an altitude of 950m, in the valley formed by a tributary of the river Asse, known as the 'Asse de Blieux'.

Hamlets

* le Bas-Chadoul * la Melle * la Tuilière * Thon * La Castelle

Summits and passes

* Mont Chiran (1905 m) * le Grand Mourre (1898 m) * Crête de Montmuye (Montmuye ridge) (Highest point: 1621 m) * Le Mourre de Chanier ( 1930 m)

Population

With the exception of those that have been totally abandoned, Blieux is one of the communities in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department that has experienced the greatest population decline from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Inhabitants are known as ''Blieuxois''.

References

{{authority control Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence