Bourg-Saint-Maurice (; Arpitan: ''Bôrg-Sant-Mori'' or simply ''Le Bôrg''), popularly known as Bourg, 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

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

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 ...

. Located on the Italian border south of

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

, it had a population of 7,252 as of 2018. It serves as a transport hub for the

Paradiski Paradiski is a ski-area in the Tarentaise Valley of France that offers uninterrupted skiing in between the areas of Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne. The area is linked, since December 2003, by the Vanoise Express lift. In total over the ...

ski area, with direct trains from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

during the winter.

History

''Bergintrum'' was a place on the Gallic side of the pass of the Alpes Graiae, lying on the road marked in the Antonine Itinerary between Mediolanum (modern

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

) and Vienna (modern

Vienne, Isère Vienne (; frp, Vièna) is a town in southeastern France, located south of Lyon, at the confluence of the Gère and the Rhône. It is the fourth largest-commune in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture alongside La Tour-du- ...

Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (; born in Paris 11 July 169728 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic ...

(''Notice, etc.'') placed it between Axima (modern Aime) and Alpis Graia. The distance from Bergintrum to Axima, marked viiii M. P. The Alpis Graia, is usually identified with a settlement at the watershed on the Pass of the Little Saint Bernard, which divides the waters that flow to the Isère on the French side from those that flow to the

Dora Baltea Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duria Bautica''. Strabo called it Δουρ� ...

on the Italian side. This is the place D'Anville calls L'Hôpital, on the authority of a manuscript map of the country. D'Anville first proposed the identification of Bergintrum with Bourg-Saint-Maurice; although he acknowledged that xii, the distance in the Table between Bergintrum and Alpis Graia, does not fit the distance between Bourg-Saint-Maurice and L'Hôpital, which is less. Modern scholarship confirms the identification. In the course of 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 ...

, Bourg-Saint-Maurice was briefly renamed Nargue-Sarde between 1794 and 1815.

Geography

Located in the arrondissement of Albertville in the

department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Bourg-Saint-Maurice is the last town along the

Tarentaise Valley The Tarentaise Valley (french: Vallée de la Tarentaise, ; frp, Tarentèsa) is a valley of the Isère River in the heart of the French Alps, located in the Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the ...

in the heart of the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

Transport

Bourg-Saint-Maurice station is linked to the

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

network and has services direct from London (

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...

) and Amsterdam (

Thalys Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed rail, high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Gare du Nord, Paris and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar tr ...

) in the winter. The Arc en Ciel funicular railway links the town to the Arc 1600 ski area.

Climate

Located in the far east of France, Bourg-Saint-Maurice is right on the boundary between the

warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Dfb) and the oceanic climate (Cfb) under the Köppen system. Winters are long, cold with at least five months of below-freezing temperatures, especially at night. Summers are usually warm and stormy.

Population

Landmarks

Ouvrage Chatelard is a lesser work (''petit ouvrage'') of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. Begun in 1938, the ouvrage consists of one infantry block about one kilometer northeast of the town, in the village of Le Chatelard. A short gallery with cross galleries extends into the rock, with an emergency exit and ventilation shaft halfway back. The ''ouvrage'' was incomplete in 1940, under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Bochaton.

Religious sites

The Catholic church of St Maurice is on Grande Rue in the centre of town, the Protestant church is on Avenue Maréchal Leclerc to the south.

Economy

Bourg-Saint-Maurice provides accommodation and a transport hub for the

ski area.

Notable people

The French ski mountaineer

Bertrand Blanc Bertrand Blanc (born 29 October 1973) is a French ski mountaineer. Blanc is born in Bourg-Saint-Maurice. He started ski mountaineering in 1992 and competed first at the Pierra Menta race in 1994. He has been member of the national team since 20 ...

was born in Bourg-Saint-Maurice on 29 October 1973. It is also the birthplace of French politician

Hervé Gaymard Hervé Gaymard (born 31 May 1960) is a French politician and a member of The Republicans conservative party. He served as the country's Minister of Finances from 30 November 2004 until his resignation on 25 February 2005. Gaymard attended S ...

(31 May 1960).