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Gap (, ) is the
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of the
Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...
department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
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 and t ...
in Southeastern France. In 2019, the
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 ...
had a population of 40,631, making it the most populated city in Hautes-Alpes. At a height of 750 metres above sea level, to the south of the Écrins Massif, it is also France's highest prefecture. Together with other Alpine towns, Gap engages in the
Alpine Town of the Year The Alpine Town of the Year award is given to towns which have made exceptional efforts for the realization of the Alpine Convention and for sustainable development. The ''Alpine Towns of the Year'' are members of the international association of ...
Association for the implementation of the
Alpine Convention The Alpine Convention is an international territorial treaty for the sustainable development of the Alps. The objective of the treaty is to protect the natural environment of the Alps while promoting its development. This Framework Convention inv ...
to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Gap was awarded
Alpine Town of the Year The Alpine Town of the Year award is given to towns which have made exceptional efforts for the realization of the Alpine Convention and for sustainable development. The ''Alpine Towns of the Year'' are members of the international association of ...
in 2002. In 2013 Gap was named the sportiest city in France by the national sports newspaper ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
''.


Toponymy

The first attestation of the name of the city is located in the ancient texts as ''Vappincum'', later reduced to ''Vappum'', the form of Gap is found in the 13th century. The toponym ''Vappincum'' is analyzed on the basis of a radical ''Vapp-'' unknown meaning, and the suffix ''-incu'' of Ligurian origin found in Provence and the Massif central to the Alps (cf.
Arlanc Arlanc (; oc, Arlanc) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 Communes of France, communes of th ...
, Nonenque,
Moirans Moirans () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Isère department The following is a list of the 512 communes in the French department of Isère. The communes cooperate in ...
and ''Morencum'' in the 10th century and Lemenc, a district of Chambéry, formerly ''Lemencum''). The Gap form actually began as the short form ''Vappum'', well attested, by the final drop. The v- has been radically treated as a w- Germanic, where ''*Wap'', then Gap (see for this type of evolution the
wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
,
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''vespa'', treats words as ''*wespa'';
mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...
, Latin ''viscum'', treated as ''*wiscum'', etc.,However, these terms have not been of Germanic influence in the other Romance languages, including Provençal : Latin ''vespa'' > Provençal ''vespa'', Latin ''viscum'' > Provençal ''vesc''. depending on the phonetic path > w> . This phonetic evolution would be more specifically made under the influence of the
Gothic language Gothic is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable text cor ...
. The name in Provençal (Alpine) is also ''Gap''.


History


Prehistory

The first settlement of Gap dates back to the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
.Société d'études des Hautes-Alpes, Histoire de la ville de Gap, p. 4. The culture of these first inhabitants belonged to the southern Chasséen. Very rare testimonies of the pre-Roman era are formed by the remains of an
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
located at the summit of the hill of ''Saint-Mens'' with few visible traces of a dolmen uncovered in 1866 and an ancient cemetery in the hamlet of Pré Camargue; but no remains were kept of these last two findings. Gallic money was also found. Gap was the capital of the Celto- Ligurian tribe. These peoples, probably belonging to the
Caturiges The Caturiges (Gaulish: ''Caturīges'', 'kings of combat') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper Durance valley, around present-day towns of Chorges and Embrun, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Catu ...
tribe, spoke the Celtic language.


The Roman period

The was then part of the territory of the Tricorii, a Gallic people who were Romanised during the conquest of
Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...
in 125-124 BC, and whose capitals were
Luc-en-Diois Luc-en-Diois (; oc, Luc de Diés; Latin: Lucus Augusti or Lucus) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is situated on the river Drôme. History The Latin name of Luc-en-Diois, Lucus Augusti or Lucus for short, evokes a ...
and
Vaison Vaison-la-Romaine (; oc, Vaison) is a town in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Vaison-la-Romaine is famous for its rich Roman ruins and mediaeval town and cathedral. It is also unusual in ...
. Around 20 BC,
Cottius Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the Celtic and Ligurian inhabitants of the mountainous Roman province then known as '' Alpes Taurinae'' and now as the Cottian Alps early in the 1st century BC. Son and successor to King Donnus, he negotiated a d ...
, a leader of tribes of the Valley of Suze, allied to Rome, and urged by
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, undertook the building of a route of communication in the Valley of the
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
to
Sisteron Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label=Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France. Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...
and consisted of six stations. Then known as ''Vapincum'', the town of Gap was founded from one of these stations. In 22 AD, Gap became the start of a Roman road to Valence.Société d'études des Hautes-Alpes, Histoire de la ville de Gap, pages 7 à 9. At this time, the location of the future city was a Roman camp. The camp was protected by a
terraced wall A terraced wall, also a terrace wall, or a terraced retaining wall is a wall that is divided into sections ( terraces) over a slope. Such designs are useful when building on a steep grade. Terraced walls may be built with many different material ...
surrounded by a ditch. It was the largest between
Montgenèvre Montgenèvre (; oc, Montginebre; Italian: ''Monginevro'') is a commune on the Italian border in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 456. Geography Montgen ...
and Sisteron. The garrison that occupied it could be estimated at 360 men. They came from the surrounding peoples. They were assigned to protect users of the Roman roads against brigands. Later, an axis towards the was created. The Gap site took importance by becoming a hub of communications. The economy was mainly pastoral and the first crops grew on the slopes of ''Puymaure''. Some houses were built on stilts as shown by excavations. During the first centuries, the population increased significantly. Towards the end of the 3rd century and 4th century, fortifications were built to protect the central core of the town. These completely surrounded the enclosure with walls and eleven towers. With an enclosed area of the center of the town formed a big village.


Middle Ages

From 28 December 986, the Bishop of Gap had sovereign rights over the city due to concerns about future Muslim invasions. The bishops kept this power until Revolutionary reforms in 1801 despite Gap being annexed by the French crown in 1512. Gap and its area became part of the
County of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...
which was established at the end of the 10th century. The
County of Forcalquier The County of Forcalquier was a large medieval county in the region of Provence in the Kingdom of Arles, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was named after the fortress around which it grew, Forcalquier. The earliest mention of a castle at For ...
was separated in the 12th century. Although the bishops of Gap were the temporal lords of the city their control was long disputed by officers of the Counts of Forcalquier notably during the episcopacy of Arnoux who later became the bishop of the city. On the death of the last Count of
Forcalquier Forcalquier (; oc, Forcauquier, ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. Dur ...
in 1209, the Embrun and Gap areas were passed to the
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
while those of Forcalquier and Sisteron returned to the County of Provence. It is for this reason that the current coat of arms of the Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is the coat of arms of the Dauphiné. In 1349 the Dauphin of Viennois Humbert II passed on his Principality to the eldest son of
Philippe VI of France Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 132 ...
, the future King of France
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...
. From 1349 to 1457 Dauphiné remained a Principality separated from France, whose prince was the eldest son of the King of France. In 1457, Charles VII put an end to this status and joined the province to the Kingdom of France. The
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
owned a house at Gap, a secondary establishment which depended on a . The creation of the , which ruled the city, dated back to before 1209. In the 14th century, the city took advantage of the benefits of the installation of the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
s in
Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
, which brought a more frequent passage of travellers to develop a
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
of wool and skins, which made it thrive. Avignon linkages were strengthened by the presence of many clerics of the entourage of the Pope, within the chapter of the canons of Gap.


Renaissance and early modern era

The 16th and 17th centuries were particularly dark times for the city. The
Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
were lethal in the region. Gap was a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
stronghold, while the switched to
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. After various skirmishes,
François de Bonne François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...
, leader of the Protestants, decided to attack Gap, nevertheless protected by 20 towers. On the night of 3 January 1577, François Philibert, known as ''Cadet de Charance'', opened the Saint-Arey gate, and allowed him to attack the city by surprise. To cries of "Kill! Kill!" his men proceeded in veritable butchery. De Bonne burned the cathedral, plundered the monasteries, appropriated the property of the inhabitants, and built a proud citadel on the ''Colline de Puymaur''e uymaure Hillwhere it dominated over Gap. Returned to Catholicism in 1622, he abandoned all claims to the city. In 1692, the troops of the ruler
Victor Amadeus II Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice. Louis XIV ...
, committed with the
League of Augsburg The Grand Alliance was the anti-French coalition formed on 20 December 1689 between the Dutch Republic, England and the Holy Roman Empire. It was signed by the two leading opponents of France: William III, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and ( ...
, against France of
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, captured the city, abandoned by its inhabitants, on 29 August. Gap was looted and burned, of the 953 houses in the commune, 798 were destroyed. This was part of the . In 1790, 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, the province of
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
was divided into three departments:
Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.
,
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...
which Gap became the
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
. Hautes-Alpes then became the highest Department of France and Gap, the highest prefecture of the country. It remains prefecture of Haute-Alpes to this day.


19th century

In 1802, the
baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
was appointed . Under his administration, the city of Gap and the Department of the Hautes-Alpes experienced some growth. It built roads linking Gap to Italy and the Drôme Valley and created a departmental nursery. His statue, carved by the Gap sculptor Jean Marcellin, was erected in 1866 at the square which bears his name.
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
left
Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...
in February 1815 and stopped at Gap on 5 March 1815 with 40 horsemen and 10 grenadiers, where he had thousands of copies of his Proclamations printed. The whole population of the city accompanied Napoleon when he left Gap. Acknowledging the reception of the population of these regions, he left the Haut-Alpins with the following message: Gap experienced a new era from 1875 with the arrival of the railway. The commune of ''Chaudun'' was joined with Gap, by the prefectoral Decree of 22 October 1895.


20th century


Second World War

During World War II, the city was part of the free zone. But after November 1942 and the
Case Anton Case Anton (german: link=no, Fall Anton) was the military occupation of France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally-independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severel ...
, it was integrated into the occupied area. After
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
on 6 June 1944, the Germans placed some 1,000 men to hold the ''cuvette de Gap'' ap Basin a key point of the Cannes-Lyon axis. , 37 years old, an original Gaullist resistant and accomplished soldier (he had trained more than 4000 resistance fighters in combat and about a hundred in sabotage) was sent by the
GPRF The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; french: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (''GPRF'')) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation ...
of
General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
to liberate the city on behalf of the Resistance. Aided by local guerrillas and resistance, he has however no way to take the city by force. He then started with his men in a campaign of sabotage and bombings that lasted more than a month. After having isolated the city by destroying the infrastructure surrounding it (overpasses, railway lines, bridges, etc.), the FFI had managed to rally the population and give the occupiers an impression of encirclement. A mid-August 1944, Drouot-L'Hermine, who lost his right-hand man, , a few days earlier, sent two emissaries to negotiate the surrender of the Germans. The Germans were convinced of facing a large-scale uprising, and agreed to lay down their weapons provided that it was to regular troops (they refused, therefore, to surrender to the Resistance). While the Americans were more than away, time was pressing for Drouot-L'Hermine. Indeed, he received an order from De Gaulle to liberate the city before the arrival of the Allies, to support the position of France as a victorious nation, liberated through the active participation of the Resistance. Drouot-L'Ermine then developed a new ploy. He managed to convince the Allies to advance one of their tanks into enemy terrain, and shoot a few rounds close to Gap. Shots echoed in the valley, and the Germans immediately identified the characteristic sound of a tank, a weapon that the guerrillas did not hold. Thinking they were then dealing with the Allies, the troops of the Reich surrendered to the Resistance. Therefore, a few hundred resistance fighters were able to capture 1,200 German soldiers, including 40 officers. The city was liberated on the evening of 19 August 1944.


Fifth Republic

The commune of ''Romette'' was associated with that of Gap, by decree dated 25 November 1974. File:Aerienne-gap-1927.jpeg, An aerial photograph of Gap (
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
) from 1927 File:Aerienne-gap-1945.jpeg, An aerial photograph of Gap (
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
) from 1945 File:Aerienne-gap-1965.jpeg, An aerial photograph of Gap (
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
) from 1965 File:Aerienne-gap-1978.jpeg, An aerial photograph of Gap (
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
) from 1978 File:Aerienne-gap-1995.jpeg, An aerial photograph of Gap (
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
) from 1995
Gap ran a bid to host the
2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
, but lost out as France's candidate to nearby
Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...
. The games were eventually awarded to
Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...
in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
.


Geography


Location

An
Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
crossroads at the intersection of D994 and the
Route nationale 85 Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...
, or ''
Route Napoléon The Route Napoléon is the route taken by Napoléon in 1815 on his return from Elba. It is now concurrent with sections of routes N85, D1085, D4085, and D6085. The route begins at Golfe-Juan, where Napoleon disembarked 1 March 1815, beginning ...
'', which crosses the
Col Bayard Col Bayard (1,246 m) is a mountain pass through the Dauphiné Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It connects the communities of La Mure and Gap. See also * List of highest paved roads in Europe * List of mountain passe ...
north of the city, Gap is located between the historic
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
and the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
administrative region. With its 40,559 inhabitants (2018), it is the main town of an
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
of 80,555 inhabitants (2018), and the main town of the Southern French Alps.
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
, at the right bank of the river , close to where it joins the
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Écrins National Park Écrins National Park (french: parc national des Écrins, ; oc, parc Nacional dels Escrinhs) is a French national park located in the southeastern part of France in the Dauphiné Alps south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the dep ...
, south-east of the Dévoluy massif and west of the
Lac de Serre-Ponçon Lake Serre-Ponçon (french: Lac de Serre-Ponçon, ; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Lac de Sèrra Ponçon'') is a reservoir in the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeast France, one of the large ...
. The region around Gap is known as .


Geology and terrain

The commune of Gap is almost entirely located in the ''Sillon de Gap'' ap trench a wide valley bottom located about above sea level and including the western slopes almost (Charance mountain and pic de Gleize). The highest point of the municipality is however outside this great valley, on another watershed slope, the Raz de Bec, at , is within the limits of the commune, and was in the former commune of
Chaudun Chaudun () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The com ...
, which merged with Gap in the 19th century. This valley was shaped by the ''Glacier de la Durance'' during the last ice age, known as the
Würm glaciation The Würm glaciation or Würm stage (german: Würm-Kaltzeit or ''Würm-Glazial'', colloquially often also ''Würmeiszeit'' or ''Würmzeit''; cf. ice age), usually referred to in the literature as the Würm (often spelled "Wurm"), was the last g ...
. Thus, soils are very often formed by
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
deposits. No less than five levels of lateral and frontal moraines are observable. These are clearly visible, especially on the southern slopes of the Col Bayard, where they were formed in places of the terraces used by agriculture. In retreating, the glacier also left erratics of several metres high. Examples include, among others, the erratic boulders of ''Peyre-Ossel'' and ''Justice''. The glacier, which in the
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
has shaped the ''Sillon de Gap'', presented several : one to the glacier of the Drac from the cols of
Manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...
and
Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood *Bayard, ...
and one towards the
Buëch The Buëch ( ), Occitan ''Bueg'' () is a river in southeastern France, a right tributary of the Durance. It is long. Its drainage basin is .La Freissinouse border. The cover of morainic debris is omnipresent in the ''Sillon de Gap'' but is not the only vestige of the Quaternary glaciation. There is also the typical topography of glacial valleys. The location of the town of Gap corresponds to an ''Ombilic glaciaire'', where large quantities of clay were deposited. Upstream lies the lacial lockof Pont-Sarrazin and downstream of Tourronde. The mechanical action of the ''glacier de la Durance'' was facilitated by the presence of relatively friable layers. The part which is central and south-east of the town consists mainly of soft rocks ( Callovo- Oxfordian black
marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...
). They consist of soft
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
of bluish or brown colors. In the northwestern part are the harder rocks of lighter colours,
Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the K ...
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, formed in places of rocky bars or cornices. File:Gap vu de ceuse (FR-05000).jpg, alt=The Sillon de Gap (towards the north-east), a large glacial valley, The ''Sillon de Gap'' (towards the north-east), a large glacial valley. File:Gap-photo045.jpg, alt=The glacial erratic of Peyre-Ossel placed on a lateral moraine, The
glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...
of ''Peyre-Ossel'' placed on a lateral moraine File:Gap001.jpg, alt=Limestone layers of the Pic du Charance, Limestone layers of the Pic du Charance File:Gap-sentinelle.jpg, alt=Southeast of the commune of Gap, Southeast of the commune of Gap


Hydrography

The town of Gap is crossed by the , a tributary of the
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is . Finally, an important channel feeds Gap with
drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
and water for
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
: The , or ''Canal du Drac'', about long, leads the water captured in the Drac via a tunnel under the
Col de Manse The Col de Manse () is a mountain pass located in the Massif des Écrins approximately north-east of Gap in the Hautes-Alpes department of France. The pass connects Gap with the high Champsaur valley and the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette. T ...
to the Jaussauds reservoir (altitude ) where it divides into two branches, including the main branch which bypasses Gap west to Correo through Charance. File:Gap022.jpg, alt=The Luye at Gap, near to the Parc de la Pépinière, The Luye at Gap, near to the Parc de la Pépinière File:Gap010.JPG, alt=The lake of the Jaussauds reservoir, The lake of the Jaussauds Reservoir


Climate

Gap features an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cfb''), according to the Köppen system, with
continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...
(''Dfb'') influence due to its elevation. Very influenced by its interior position, the city experiences cold, snowy winters and warm summers. Therefore, the climate is more or less
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
. Thus the main feature of the local climate is the importance of the
sunshine Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...
enjoyed by the city. Furthermore,
snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall underscores the mountain character of the city.
Thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s are frequent in summer,
fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
is rather rare. The tables below represent averages of monthly temperatures. They also show the maximum and minimum mean temperatures over the period from 1951 to 1970. Comparisons with surveys of the period from 1878 to 1940 showed lower maximum averages over the period from 1950 to 1970 for the winter and summer months. Over the same period, again for the winter and summer months, there was an increase in the average minimum. Thus the evolution of the climate tends towards a slight reduction of differences in winter temperatures on the one hand, and summer on the other. Extreme temperatures also highlight the mountain and Mediterranean components of the climate. Indeed, over the decade 1951-1960 the absolute minimum recorded was on 3 February 1956. While the absolute maximum was of observed 8 July 1952. The evolution of the average monthly temperatures (in red) and an average monthly rainfall (in blue) are summarized in the chart below. Outside of the valley breezes, the prevailing wind is from the north, locally named the ''bise'' wind. In fact, it is a component of the
mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...
. Up the Drac Valley, this wind crosses the Bayard plateau down to Gap. When it carries clouds, there is the phenomenon of "the bar of Bayard": a compact pile of clouds covering the Bayard plateau. Pushed by the wind, they descend into the valley. Under the effect of the increase in pressure and temperature, these clouds disappear immediately a few hundred metres further down. Even in perpetual motion, cloud cover appears motionless. If these conditions are synonymous with freshness in autumn and spring, and bright cold in the winter, they are always accompanied by a perfectly sunny and clear atmosphere above the city.


Channels of communication and transport


Road network

The town of Gap lies at a crossroads. The route nationale RN 85 heads towards the north and the south, the to the east and the departmental RD 994 road to the west. The RN 85 travels north to
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
.
Sisteron Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label=Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France. Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...
is located in the opposite direction, and eventually also to the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. The RN 94 travels to reach
Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...
and towards
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
via the
Col de Montgenèvre The Col de Montgenèvre (; elevation 1860 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Cottian Alps, in France 2 kilometres away from Italy. Description The pass takes its name from the village Montgenèvre (Hautes-Alpes), which lies in the vicinity ...
. Meanwhile, the RD 994 joins with
Pont-Saint-Esprit Pont-Saint-Esprit (, literally "Holy Spirit Bridge"; oc, Lo Pònt Sant Esperit) is a commune in the Gard département in southern France. It is situated on the river Rhône and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name. The Ardèche fl ...
in
Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;La Saulce on the A51 motorway. This highway provides fast travel to
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
and
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
away, via the
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .A7, the absence of this highway has not created the announced decline. On the contrary, the city ceased to grow (see demographics) without being absorbed by its relatively distant neighbours thanks precisely to its relative isolation from the main road network, including Grenoble (in no effect a dormitory community). Taking into account the increase in road traffic, the creation of an urban boulevard became a prospect of improvement. This one long and comprising several structures, could bypass the city from the west. Concerning also the transit of traffic serving the city itself, it would act as a bypass, leaving the RN 85, close to the area of Micropolis to the southwest and lead to the RN 94, north-east towards the Romette intersection.


Rail

The city is served by
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
.
Gap station Gap station is a railway station serving the town Gap, Hautes-Alpes department, southeastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...
is connected directly to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
daily by a night train , but also by
regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are public transport, passenger rail transport, rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail ...
to
Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...
,
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, Valence (
Gare de Valence-Ville Valence-Ville station ( French: ''Gare de Valence-Ville'') is a railway station serving the town Valence, Drôme department, southeastern France. It is situated on the Paris–Marseille railway, and is the southern terminus of a branch line to Gr ...
and
Gare de Valence TGV Gare de Valence TGV ( IATA: XHK) is a railway station in Valence, France which offers regular TGV services. The station, located in eastern Valence ( Alixan), is about ten kilometres north-east from the town centre, allowing through trains to pass ...
), as well as to
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
and
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
. In the 1930s, work aimed at the establishment of a metric line between Gap and Corps by the
Col de Manse The Col de Manse () is a mountain pass located in the Massif des Écrins approximately north-east of Gap in the Hautes-Alpes department of France. The pass connects Gap with the high Champsaur valley and the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette. T ...
was undertaken. These were never finished and the was never born. Portions were reused for the basis of the
route nationale A ''route nationale'', or simply ''nationale'', is a class of trunk road in France. They are important roads of national significance which cross broad portions of the French territory, in contrast to departmental or communal roads which serve m ...
. The was also begun in the east, but never completed. A double curve viaduct remains beneath the waters of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon.


Air transport

Located from Gap, the Gap–Tallard Airport can handle passenger traffic. The company
Air Alpes ; Société Air Alpes was a French airline company headquartered in Chambéry Airport and in Viviers-du-Lac, Savoie, near Chambéry."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. 13 February 1975247 Established in 1961 by Michel Ziegler, ...
operated a
DHC-6 Twin otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...
, with a regular service between Paris-Le Bourget and Gap from 1973 to 1977, since abandoned. The vast majority of air movements are sports-oriented.


Urban transport

Public transport in the city is provided by the Linea network. In 2016, the network is comprised 12 lines. There is also a school transport service, a shuttle between /Centre-ville/Gap-Bayard runs in July and August, a shuttle to the hyper-Centre and a taxibus is available on demand. Aside from the taxibus, all of these are totally free services for users.


Cycling facilities

Several cycle paths traverse the city. Some are separate from the road network, others are cycle lanes alongside roads.


Urbanism


Housing

Of the 21,479 houses in Gap in 2011, 88% were principal residences (against 89.20% of 19,043 houses in 2006), and 8.50% were vacant (compared with 7% of the 19,043 in 2006). Two-thirds of them are
apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
s (almost 65%). A majority of these houses consist of 4 rooms (30%) or 5 rooms (28%). Overall, the buildings date from the period between 1946 and 1990 (65%). Half of the inhabitants of principal residences are owners (51%), the share of social rental housing (
HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.rban boulevard*The Bernard-Givaudan park and garden *Renovation of the ''Rue Jean Eymard'' ean Eymard Road*Renovation of the ''Carré de l'Imprimerie'' rinting House Squarein the town centre with a number of facilities (housing, commercial space, underground parking, medical home, etc.)


Politics and administration


Political trends and outcomes

The outgoing mayor, Roger Didier, was a representative in the municipal elections of 2014 and was re-elected at the end of the second round with 53.37% of votes. The turnout was 57.41%.


Municipal administration

The City Council consists of 43 members, including 20 who are elected by the community council.


List of mayors


Intercommunality

Since 1 January 2017, Gap is part of the
Communauté d'agglomération Gap-Tallard-Durance Communauté d'agglomération Gap-Tallard-Durance is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Gap. It is located in the Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence departments, in the Provence-Alpes-C ...
, covering 17 municipalities.


Administrative divisions

Until the departmental elections of March 2015, Gap was divided into six
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
: Gap-Campagne (including five communes: La Freissinouse, Manteyer, Pelleautier, Rabou and La Roche-des-Arnauds), Gap-Centre, Gap-Nord-Est, Gap-Nord-Ouest, Gap-Sud-Est and Gap-Sud-Ouest. Since the of the Hautes-Alpes Department, Gap is divided into four cantons.


Judicial and administrative proceedings

Gap has the presence of a high court.


Environmental policy

Gap is classified as ''three flowers'' in the competition of flowery cities and villages.


International relations


Twinning

Gap is twinned with a couple of European cities. It is in this framework that socio-cultural, educational and sports exchanges are made. *
Pinerolo Pinerolo (; pms, Pinareul ; french: Pignerol; oc, Pineròl) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary be ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, since 1966 *
Traunstein Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, since 1976


Decentralised cooperation

In addition, decentralised cooperation agreements have been signed with a couple of cities in Africa and Asia. * Bangou,
Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, since 2003 *
Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
,
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, since 2004


Population and society


Demographics


Demographic change

In 2017, the commune had 40,895 inhabitants.


Age structure

The distribution of age groups in the commune of Gap is shown below, in comparison with the Hautes-Alpes department.


Education

Gap is situated in the .


Schools

The city administers 12 , 13 and 6 rural schools. There are also several private kindergartens and elementary schools. The Department manages five and four
lycées In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
of the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
region, the Lycée professionnel Paul-Hariharan, the school of general and farm technology education "Les Emeyères", the Dominique-Villars Lycée and the Aristide-Briand Lycée. There are also two private schools, the Lycée professionnel Sévigné and Lycée Saint-Joseph. That said, the Lycée professionnel Sévigné is now public.


Higher education

Higher education in Gap is represented by the Pôle University of Gap, an annex of the former University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II, today the
Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...
, created from the merger of three universities. It includes a centre, a Business Administration and Management IUT ( GEA), a "Mountain crafts" (professional master) which is unique in France, as well as being able to give an aircraft maintenance licence (
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
region is a in
Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...
, and the Department has established the Centre of Rural Excellence ''Excell'Air''. Several
BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
chains and preparatory classes exist in the lycées, in particular a Computer Services in Organisations BTS and a Negotiations and Customer Service BTS at the Lycée Dominique Villars as well as an Assistant Manager BTS at the Lycée Aristide Briand.


Cultural events and festivities

During the summer months, the association of merchants of the town centre ''Les Vitrines de Gap'' organises Nocturnes. These are musical and festive events accompanied by the opening of stores downtown from 7pm until 11pm. Each year an Expo Fair also takes place at the Parc de la Pépinnière during May. The Quattro, a theatre with retractable tiered seating, organises all kinds of events, namely concerts, performances, business seminars, etc.


Health

The city has a hospital, the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal of Alpes du Sud (CHICAS) which is divided into three entities. The first and most important site is Gap, which is the largest hospital of the Southern Alps. Gap is also equipped with a site specialising in geriatrics. As a result of a merger, the CHICAS manages the site of
Sisteron Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label=Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France. Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...
. The Polyclinic of the Southern Alps is the only clinic present in the city and other centres of rehabilitation. There is also a Maison Médicale du Gapençais with extended opening hours.


Sports

Clubs: *
Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
club, the
Rapaces de Gap Rapaces de Gap (french: Les Rapaces de Gap) is a French ice hockey team that is based in Gap and plays home games at the Patinoire Brown-Ferrand. The team played in the Ligue Magnus during the 2009–10 Ligue Magnus season. Gap won the French Ch ...
ap Raptors which plays in
Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champion ...
and has more than 30 titles of champion of France in all categories. *The Gap FC football team, which plays in the 1st division of the Alps District. *The athletic club, the Gap Hautes-Alpes athletics (GH2A). *Cross-country ski club, Ski club Gap-Bayard. *Road cycling and mountain biking club, the UCPG. *Mountain biking club, the PJPC. *''Gap Hautes Alpes Rugby'' club plays in
Fédérale 3 Fédérale 3 is the seventh division of rugby union in France. The competition involves 226 clubs in 21 pools of 8, and winners can progress up into higher division of competition. The competition above Fédérale 3 is Fédérale 2 and above that, ...
. *Gap basketball for Pre-nationale. *Gap Handball playing in . *Gap volleyball which plays in the Regional Championship. *The Gapencais Sasquatches, club allowing the discovery or the practice of
American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
. The town of Gap regularly hosts stages of the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
and the
Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...
in cycling, as well as the
Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...
in motorsport. The town of Gap is known for its mountain bike trek the ''Paths of the Sun'', between Saillans and Gap. The sports facilities in Gap include stadiums, gymnasiums, swimming pools,
ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
, multi-purpose room (bowling), and tennis courts. The fitness centre Gap-Bayard, located on the Bayard plateau, has an 18-hole golf course that operates in summer and is a base for
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
in winter. In October 2004, the association ''Objective JO 2018'' worked for a French candidacy of the , at the
2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
. The town of Gap was approached to run in the race. Gap withdrew in October 2008 and was replaced by the municipality of
Pelvoux Pelvoux (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Pelvós'') is a former commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Vallouise-Pelvoux. Pelvoux bid to ...
and the . In 2009, the town of Gap won the competition of the ''
Intervilles ''Intervilles'' is a French comedy game show first broadcast in 1962. The show was based on a previous Italian programme. It featured teams representing towns in France competing in a series of games, some of which involved live cows and bulls ( ...
'' sports show during the final against Dax. The town of Gap hosted the final of the amateurs during the autumn of 2012. In 2013, the town of Gap was elected the sportiest city of more of 20,000 inhabitants in France by ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
'' newspaper.


Media

*''Alpes 1'' (local information radio station, leader in the Hautes-Alpes, present also in the Alpes de Haute-Provence) *''The Dauphiné Libéré'' (daily) *''Alpes et Midi'' (weekly) *''Anima Gap'' *''D!CI''


Religion


Catholic


=Cathedral and churches

= *The Cathedral of Notre-Dame and Saint-Arnoux, built in the 19th century according to the plans of . *The , rebuilt in the 18th century and used to worship according to the extraordinary rite of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. *The , built in the 20th century. *The , built in the 20th century. *St. Peter's Church


=Chapels

= *The Chapel of Saint-Grégoire in the hamlet of Les Fareaux *The Chapel of Saint-Louis, district of Charance *The Chapel of Saint-Pierre, hamlet of Treschatel *The Chapel of Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur, district of La Tourronde


Protestant

*The Evangelical Church, Assembly of God of Gap *The Protestant Evangelical Church ''Le Rocher (CAEF)'' *The Protestant Temple, dependent of the
Reformed Church of France The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...
*The Adventist Church


Millenarian Christian

*Jehovah's witnesses *Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints


Muslim

*The Al Salam Mosque, inaugurated on 7 July 2013


Economy


Revenues of the population and taxation


Revenues

The median pay in Gap in 2011 is 18,944 euros. The majority of revenues are derived from wage work (55%), compared to a third of retirees (30%).


Taxation

In 2011, 18,345 households existed in Gap, 60% of them were taxable.


Industry

The
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
sector (french: Bâtiment et travaux publics (BTP)) has grown through the inclusion of winter sports.


Tertiary sector

The tertiary sector is the sector which dominates the local economy: *Garrison town ( and since January 2011) and administrative (prefecture, department hall) *Tourism Gap is the seat of the . It manages the centre for regional and European tourism (CRET) of
Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...
, the of Gap and the ''Centre Européen Médical Bioclimatique de Recherche et d'Enseignement Universitaire'' uropean medical bioclimatic research and university teaching Center(CEMBREU) of Briançon.


Local culture and heritage


Places and monuments

*The houses the mausoleum of
François de Bonne François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...
(Duke of Lesdiguières, Constable of the Haut-Alpin) carved in the black marble of the by Jacob Richier. *The pedestrian centre made of small passages and pleasant terraces revolves around place Jean-Marcellin. *Bronze by , "The Light", by order of Mayor
Pierre Bernard-Reymond Pierre Bernard-Reymond (born 16 January 1944 in Gap, Hautes-Alpes) was a member of the Senate of France, representing the Hautes-Alpes department as a member of the Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no ...
in 2006. *The Parc de la Pépinière *The
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
*The
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
*The *The Cathedral of Notre-Dame and Saint-Arnoux was built from 1866 to 1904 according to the plans of . This
Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
building replaces a medieval construction. * The
Conservatoire botanique national alpin de Gap-Charance The Conservatoire botanique national alpin is a national conservatory specializing in alpine plants, located in the Domaine de Charance, about 4 km northwest of Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. The conservatory was ...
, situated north-west of Gap File:Musée départemental05.JPG, The Departemental Museum of Gap File:Gap016.jpg, Parc de la Pépinière File:Place J. Marcellin.JPG, Place Jean-Marcellin


The Charance Estate

The Château de Charance was built in the 16th century. It includes a main building, which today is the headquarters of the
Écrins National Park Écrins National Park (french: parc national des Écrins, ; oc, parc Nacional dels Escrinhs) is a French national park located in the southeastern part of France in the Dauphiné Alps south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the dep ...
, and several annexes, one of which houses the Park Museum. The Charance Estate also features the Conservatoire botanique national alpin lpine National Botanical Conservatory a terraced garden and an area of around the
château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
and in the middle of which lies a small lake: Charance Lake. All overlooks the city. See also:


Cultural heritage

*The theatre of La Passerelle, ''Scène nationale'' ational stageof the Southern Alps. *The Quattro, a versatile new cultural space initially called the "Cube", inaugurated on 27 May 2008 *The Conservatoire, of departmental influence *The Municipal Centre of Culture and Leisure (CMCL) *The municipal library *The international Folkdance festival, which takes place every year in July *3 cinemas exist in Gap (of which two have been saved by the city hall, when the building housing their screens was sold)


Military life

Military units have been stationed at Gap: * 17th infantry regiment, before 1914 * 96th infantry regiment, 1906 *7th Demi-brigade of Mountain Infantry, 1939–1940, consisting of: ** ** ** 4th Mountain Infantry Battalion (4th Rch) since 1983.


Personalities linked to the commune

Below is a non-exhaustive list of people born in Gap or having a particular attachment to the city: * Féraud de Nice ( - 1044) - Bishop of Gap at the beginning of the 11th century. *Albertet of Sisteron (1194-1221) - native
troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...
of the town. *
Guillaume Farel William Farel (1489 – 13 September 1565), Guilhem Farel or Guillaume Farel (), was a French evangelist, Protestant reformer and a founder of the Calvinist Church in the Principality of Neuchâtel, in the Republic of Geneva, and in Switzerland i ...
(1489-1565) - Protestant reformer, he participated in the expansion of the Protestant Reformation in French-speaking Switzerland and was a translator of the Bible to French and Occitan. * (1516-1586) - Marseille grammarian, born in Gap. * or Honoré Pela (1641-1718) - baroque sculptor, pupil of
Pierre Puget Pierre Paul Puget (16 October 1620 – 2 December 1694) was a French Baroque painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. His sculpture expressed emotion, pathos and drama, setting it apart from the more classical and academic sculpture of the ...
, his career took place mainly in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
. * (1745-1810) - parish priest of Le Caire in 1789, Deputy to the
Estates-General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...
and the constituent Assembly (1789-1791). *
Dominique Villars Dominique Villars or Villar (born 14 November 1745 in Le Villard, part of the commune of Le Noyer, Hautes-Alpes, and died on 26 June 1814 in Strasbourg) was an 18th-century French botanist. His main work is ''Histoire des plantes du Dauphiné'' p ...
(1745-1814) - botanist, he is the author of several manuscripts of ''Histoire des plantes du Dauphiné'' resulting from over twenty years of observations of plants. * (1754-1821) - born in Gap, former National Assembly member for Hautes-Alpes * (1760-1833) – died in Gap, former National Assembly member for Hautes-Alpes and imperial attorney *Baron (1772-1848) - prefect of Hautes-Alpes under
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. He founded the ''Société d'émulation des Hautes-Alpes'' ociety of Emulation of Haute-Alpes(now the ) and Gap Museum. * (1762-1844), died in Gap, from 1820 to 1827 National Assembly member for
Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...
. *
Joseph-Bruno Guigues Joseph-Bruno Guigues, (26 August 1805 – 8 February 1874), was an Oblate priest, a teacher and became the first bishop of the diocese of Bytown (Ottawa) serving from (1847–1874). His consecration service in 1848 was performed by Rémi Ga ...
(1805-1874) - first bishop of
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. * Paul Colomb de Batines (1811–1855), Librarian and bibliographer * (1821-1884) - sculptor, pupil of
François Rude François Rude (4 January 1784 – 3 November 1855) was a French sculptor, best known for the ''Departure of the Volunteers'', also known as ''La Marseillaise'' on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. (1835–36). His work often expressed patriotic the ...
. Gap owes him for the Baron of Ladoucette statue at the end of the course Ladoucette. * was born in Gap (Hautes-Alpes) in 1830 and died in New York (United States) in 1905, was a personality of the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
. * (1834-1889) and (1835-1875) were botanists, specialists of the flora in the vicinity of Gap, they donated their Herbarium at the . * (1850-1924) - Director of the , and as historian, he published several brochures on cities, villages and the families of his departement. *
Hippolyte Müller Hippolyte Müller (22 November 1865 - 23 September 1933) was a French ethnographer and the first curator of the ''Musée dauphinois'' (Dauphinois Museum) in Grenoble. A jeweller by trade, Müller was fascinated by the prehistoric era. As a self- ...
(1865-1933) - originally an apprentice jeweller, a self-taught archaeologist, he was the founder of the
Musée dauphinois The ''Musée dauphinois'' (Dauphinois Museum), located in Grenoble (France), is dedicated to the ethnography, archaeology, history and society of the former province of the Dauphiné. Situated above the neighbourhood of Saint-Laurent in the listed ...
at Grenoble. * (1867-1948) - historian, Chief Archivist of the Hautes-Alpes, his bust was erected in the Parc de la Pépinière, in the centre of Gap. *
Louise Germain Louise Germain (1874–1939), née Louise Richier was a French painter. Biography Although she was born in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France, Louise Richier lived much of her childhood and adolescence in Algeria, returning to France by the time she ...
(1874-1939) - painter who often worked alongside
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...
. *
Achille Mauzan Achille Lucien Mauzan (1883, in Gap, Hautes-Alpes – 1952, in Gap) was born on the French Riviera, but moved to Italy in 1905, known as a decorative illustrator designing during the Art Deco movement, though he also painted and sculpted. Aft ...
(1883-1952) - artist from Gaumont cinema at the beginning of the 20th century. He was also a painter and sculptor and was part of the
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
art movement. * (1889-1966) - geographer, former Rector of the
University of Lyon The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: ...
and former Director of the . * (1909-1976) - born in Gap, politician. * Robert Thomas (1927-1989) - born in Gap, playwright, director and producer. * (1947-) - born in Gap, composer. * Henri Bréchu (1947-) - born in Gap, skier. *
Francis Masse Francis Masse, known as Masse (born 21 August 1948 in Gap, Hautes-Alpes), is a French artist. In the early 1970s, he first became acquainted with his sculptures, then turned to animation and cartoon. The poetic universe of Masse is served by an ...
(1948-) - born in Gap, screenwriter and comic illustrator. *
Marie-Anne Chazel Marie-Anne France Jacqueline Chazel (born 19 September 1951) is a French actress, screenwriter and director, who has been active in both film and television since 1974. Biography Chazel was born to actress Louba Guertchikoff (birth name Lou ...
(1951-) - born in Gap, actress, Member of
Le Splendid Le Splendid is a café-théâtre company founded by a collection of writers and actors in the 1970s - Christian Clavier, Michel Blanc, Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte (four childhood friends who knew one another from the Lycée Pasteur in Neu ...
. * Raymond Durand (1952-) - born in Gap, rally driver, champion of the world FIA Alternative Energies Cup in 2009 and 2010. *
Chantal Lauby Chantal Lauby (born 23 March 1948) is a French actress, film director, screenwriter, humorist, comedian and television host. She is a member and founder of the group of comedians ''Les Nuls'' alongside Bruno Carette, Alain Chabat and Dominique F ...
(1953-) - born in Gap, comedian, film director, actress, Member of
Les Nuls ''Les Nuls'' (also known as ''ABCD Nuls'') was a French group of comedians appearing between 1987 and 1992 on the channel Canal+. The actors Alain Chabat, Dominique Farrugia, Chantal Lauby and Bruno Carette Bruno Carette (1956–1989) was a Fre ...
. * (1955-2001) - born in Gap, French cartoonist. *
Christian Audigier Christian Audigier (; 21 May 1958 – 9 July 2015) was a French fashion designer known for the Ed Hardy and Von Dutch clothing lines. Early life Christian Audigier was born on 21 May 1958 in Avignon, France. Career Audigier began working in t ...
(1958-), designer * Pierre Granoux (1963-) - artist, organizer of exhibitions and art publisher. Currently lives in Berlin, Germany. *
Jean-Christophe Lafaille Jean-Christophe Lafaille (31 March 1965 – 27 January 2006 resumed was a French mountaineer noted for a number of difficult ascents in the Alps and Himalaya, and for what has been described as "perhaps the finest self-rescue ever performed in the ...
(1965-2006)-born in Gap, mountaineer. *
Fabienne Berthaud Fabienne Berthaud (, born in 1966, Gap) is a French writer, actress, screenwriter and director, winner of the 2011 prix Françoise Sagan. Works Bibliography *1994: ''Cafard'', Albin Michel *1999: ''Mal partout'', Éditions du Seuil *1999: ''Mo ...
(1966–), writer, actress and director, was born in Gap *
Christian Pouget Christian Pouget (born January 11, 1966 in Gap, France) is a retired French professional ice hockey player. Achievements Olympic career Pouget competed in three Olympics representing France - 1988, 1992, and 1998 1998 was designated a ...
(1966-) - born in Gap, hockey player. * Gilles Grimandi (1970-) - born in Gap, footballer. * (1971-) - born in Gap, graphic designer, illustrator and author of children's books. *
Laurence Manfredi Laurence Manfredi (born 20 May 1974 in Gap, Hautes-Alpes) is a French shot putter. She finished fifth at the 2007 European Indoor Championships. She also competed at the World Championships in 1997, 1999 and 2003 and the Olympic Games in 20 ...
(1974-) - born in Gap, athlete. * (1976-) - born in Gap, journalist and writer. *
Camille Combal Camille Combal (born 18 September 1981) is a French television and radio presenter. He is the current host of '' Danse avec les stars'', '' Mask Singer'', '' Qui veut gagner des millions ?'', and '. He was the co-host of ''Touche pas à mon pos ...
(1981-) - born in Gap, comedian, radio and television host. *
Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champions ...
(1983-) - born in Gap, rally driver, seven time World Rally Champion. *
Laëtitia Roux Laëtitia Roux (born 21 June 1985) is a French ski mountaineer. Roux was born in Savines-le-Lac and started ski-mountaineering at the age of nine. In autumn of 2005, she joined the PACA section of the Fédération française de la montagne et ...
(1985-) - born in Gap, specialist ski mountaineer and trail. *
Stéphane Tempier Stéphane Tempier (born 5 March 1986) is a French cross-country mountain biker who races for the Trek Factory Racing. He won the silver medal in the junior cross country at the 2004 world championships in Les Gets, France. At the 2005 world ch ...
(1986-) - born in Gap, competed in the 2012 Olympics in mountain biking.


Heraldry


See also

* * *


Bibliography

* *
History and anecdotes about the town of Gap *
Booklet on the release of Gap in August 1944


Notes


References


Further reading

*''
Gallia Christiana The ''Gallia Christiana'', a type of work of which there have been several editions, is a documentary catalogue or list, with brief historical notices, of all the Catholic dioceses and abbeys of France from the earliest times, also of their occupan ...
'' (Nova, 1715), I, 452–473, Instrumenta, 86–89, (Nova, 1725), III, 1051–1107; Instrumenta, 177–188, 205–8; *, ''Gallia christiana Novissima'' (Montbeliard, 1899), I, *, ''Histoire hagiologique du diocese de Gap'' (Gap, 1852); *
Honoré Fisquet Honoré Jean Pierre Fisquet (1818–1883) was a French historian, biographer and writer of guide books, including a ''Nouveau guide général du voyageur en Angleterre, en Écosse et en Irlande'' (1864), which he wrote together with Henri-Marie Mart ...
, ''France Pontificale'' (Paris, 1868); * Gaillaud, ''Histoire de Notre Dame d'Embrun'' (Gap, 1862); *, ''Sigillographie du diocese de Gap'' (Grenoble, 1870); *Joseph Roman, ''Tableau historique du département des Hautes-Alpes'' (Paris, 1889–91); *
Ulysse Chevalier Ulysse Chevalier (24 February 1841 – 27 October 1923) was a French bibliographer and historian. Born in Rambouillet, he published many works on the history of Dauphiné, e.g. the cartularies of the church and the town of Die (1868), of the a ...
, ''Topo-bibl.'', pp. 988, 1266.


External links

* *
Gap 2018 olympic bid web site
{{Authority control Communes of Hautes-Alpes Prefectures in France Dauphiné !