Prads-Haute-Bléone (; ''Prats Auta Blèuna'' in

Vivaro-Alpine Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine ...

) is a

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

in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department and 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 an ...

in southeastern France. The people of Prads-Haute-Bléone are called Pradins.

Geography

The neighboring communes of Prads-Haute-Bléone are Méolans-Revel,

Allos Allos (; oc, Alòs) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Allos is a high mountain commune in the southern Alps. The commune experienced a significant rural exo ...

, Villars-Colmars, Thorame-Basse, Draix,

La Javie La Javie (; oc, La Jàvia) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Bléone, which flows west through the southeastern part of the commune. Population ...

, Beaujeu and

Verdaches Verdaches (; oc, Verdacha) is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department References

...

. The village lies on the right bank of the

Bléone The Bléone (; oc, Blèuna) is a long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Tête de l'Estrop at in the Massif des Trois-Évêchés at the border with Méolans-Revel. This is also the highest summit of the

Provence Alps and Prealps The Provence Alps and Prealps (''Alpes et Préalpes de Provence'' in French) are a mountain range in the south-western part of the Alps, located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France). Provence Alps and Prealps encompass the south-western area o ...

. It is common with the type of high valleys of the Southern Alps, enjoying a climate which is very sunny, cold, dry, and with a snow line at approximately .

Geology

During the two last major glaciations,

Riss glaciation The Riss glaciation, Riss Glaciation, Riss ice age, Riss Ice Age, Riss glacial or Riss Glacial (german: Riß-Kaltzeit, ', ' or (obsolete) ') is the second youngest glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch in the traditional, quadripartite glacial classi ...

and

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 ...

, major glaciers occupied the valleys of the commune. A first glacier, reduced, occupied the top of the Valley of the Galebre (formerly commune of Mariaud). A great glacier flowed into the Bléone Valley; It received tributaries from the glacier valleys of the ravine of Bussing, Riou and the ravine of Jet des Eaux and Riou de l’Aune. The Riss glacier descended to Blegiers; the Würm glaciation was less thick and stopped below Heyre. The valleys of the southern entrance to the town (Champourcin, Chanolles, Blegiers) are situated in

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 ...

mountains of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

period. Further upstream and to left bank of the

Bléone The Bléone (; oc, Blèuna) is a long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', th ...

. In front of these formations at the right bank, the Galabre ridge which separates the Bléone Valley is composed of

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.3 Ma to around 166.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. Str ...

limestone. This has beds of marl, alternating with shallow (less than a meter) limestone and shale marl.

Relief

*Tête de l'Estrop, *Tête Noire *Le Caduc *Col de Talon

Hydrography

The commune is crossed by the

Bléone The Bléone (; oc, Blèuna) is a long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Galabre.

Environment

The commune has of woods and forests, or 45% of its area.

Hamlets

*Commune of Prads: **Prads **Tercier **Les Eaux Chaudes (an ancient camp in ruins) **La Favière *Former commune of Blégiers: **Blégiers **Champourcin **Chanolles **Chavailles **La Colle (uninhabited since 1982) **Les Combes **Heyre *Former commune of Mariaud: **L’Adrech (uninhabited since 1928) **L’Immérée (uninhabited since 1914) **Pré Fourcha (uninhabited since 1934) **Saume Longue **Vière (uninhabited since 1934, under restoration) Image:Champourcin - 2.JPG, Hamlet of Champourcin Image:Chanolles - 3.JPG, Telephone exchange in an old house in Chanolles Image:Chavailles - 01.JPG, Hamlet of Chavailles Image:Prads - 11.JPG, The village of Prads Image:Saume-Longue - 08.JPG, Washing house of Saume-Longue (Mariaud)

Transport

Image:Prads - 12.JPG, Old bridge on the Bléone, between Prads and Tercier Image:Saume-Longue - 06.JPG, Saume-Longue unpaved access road Image:Saume-Longue - 03.JPG, The two bridges of Saume-Longue, one above the other, over the Bussing Ravine

Natural and technological hazards

With respect to

seismic activity An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

, the area of Prads-Haute-Bléone is in zone 4 (medium risk) according to the probabilistic classification EC8 of 2011. The municipality of Prads-Haute-Bléone is also exposed to three other natural hazards: *

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

(only the Ministry recognises this risk, but not the prefecture) * Forest fire * Landslide: mudflows have occurred in the commune after heavy rainfall in July 2005 The municipality of Prads-Haute-Bléone is exposed to any of the risks of technological origin identified by the prefecture. The predictable natural (PPR) of the municipality was approved in 1993 for the risk of land movement; the does not exist. The commune was the subject to an avalanche, in 2009. In July 2005, the municipality also had significant mudslides after heavy rains. The following list includes earthquakes felt strongly in the town. They exceed a macro-seismic intensity level V on the MSK scale (sleepers awake, falling objects). The specified intensities are those felt in the town, the intensity can be stronger at the

epicentre The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

: *The earthquake of February 8, 1974, with an intensity level V and with Thorame-Haute and Basse at the epicentre, *The earthquake of October 31, 1997, with an intensity level VI and whose epicentre was located in the municipality of Prads-Haute-Bléone. On 5 and 6 November 1968, Prads had one of the first landslides of magnitude which was studied in detail by geomorphologists. It was produced in the Ravin de la Frache (an

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

term that precisely refers to a zone of talus), in l'Adret and located beneath the summit of Belle Valette. In the autumn of 1967, already marked by heavy rains, the cracks in the ground expanded. During the winter of 1967-1968, the successions of freeze-thaw lubricated the sliding surfaces. The rainy spring only aggravated the instability of the land. During the autumn 1968 rains, more than a year after the start of the sequence, a flow was triggered resulting in a blackish marl-limestone detrital mass and marl-shale

colluvium Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combinati ...

Toponymy

The name of the village, as it appears for the first time the 9th century (''Colonia in Prato'') is derived from the

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 ...

''pratum'' (pré). The plural is recent. The Bléone name means ''Wolf River''. ''Mariaud'' appears in the texts at the beginning of the 13th century, but in the form of ''Mariano'': According to Ernest Nègre, the place name derived from the proper Roman name of ''Marianus'', which has evolved from ''Mariaudo'' (1319), by attraction to the Provençal local ''maridado'', meaning wedding. Other hypotheses exist. ''Blegiers'' is mentioned for the first time in charters in the second decade of the 12th century, in the form ''de Bligerio'', derived from the Germanic name ''Blidegar'', possibly Latinized as ''Blidegarius''. ''Chanolles'', cited in 1122 (''Canola''), comes from the

Pre-Celtic The pre-Celtic period in the prehistory of Central Europe and Western Europe occurred before the expansion of the Celts or their culture in Iron Age Europe and Anatolia (9th to 6th centuries BC), but after the emergence of the Proto-Celtic lang ...

oronym (mountain toponym) ''*Kan-''. The name of the summit of Chappe at , bordering on Beaujeu, is maintained in the existence of an optical telegraph relay, known as . The name of the locality of ''la Favière'' evokes a planted field of beans (); that of ''Combes'' designates a ravine (similar to

combe A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...

), downstream of the village of Prads.

Economy

In 2017, the active population amounted to 69 people, including 10 unemployed. These workers are in majority employees (68%), and are in majority employed outside the commune (52%).Dossier complet: Commune de Prads-Haute-Bléone (04155)
/ref> At the end of 2015, the

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any Industry (economics), industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portio ...

(agriculture, forestry, fishing) had 14 active institutions within the meaning of Insee (including non-professional operators and self-employment). The number of professional farms, according to the Agreste survey of the Ministry of Agriculture, is nine in 2010. It was 11 in 2000, and 18 in 1988. Currently, these operators are divided into sheep and vegetable farmers. From 1988 to 2000, the usable

agricultural land Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with ...

(SAU) had significantly increased, from to . The SAU has dropped during the last decade, to . Barrage de Chanolles

At the end of 2015, the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

(industry and construction) had 8 establishments, employing one worker. The

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

of Chanolles used the waters of the

Bléone The Bléone (; oc, Blèuna) is a long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .kW. Formerly, hydropower sawmills were installed in Champourcin, Blegiers and Prads. They all ceased operation in the 20th century. In 2013, a new artisanal sawmill was created in the village of Blegiers. At the end of 2015, the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

(shops, transport, services) had eight institutions (one salaried employee), in addition to seven institutions in the administrative sector (together with the health and social sector and education), with six people employed. According to the ''Observatoire départemental du tourisme'', the tourist function is very important for the municipality, with more than five tourists accommodated per capita, despite a low capacity of accommodation for tourist purposes: *Several branded as furnished and a number non-furnished. *The only capacity for any collective accommodation is located in the shelters. Secondary residences complement the capacity: with a number of 212, they represent 65% of dwellings. The

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods ...

at the Trois Évêchés, which carries the brand, adheres to a charter which aims to ''"contribute to the conservation and the animation of the economic and social fabric in rural areas by maintaining a place in village life"''. There is also a centre for excursions and hikes.

History

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

, Bodiontiques (''Bodiontici'') lived in the Valley of the

Bléone The Bléone (; oc, Blèuna) is a long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Gallic people who lived in the valleys of the current commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone. The Bodiontiques, who were defeated 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 Pr ...

at the same time as other peoples present on the Trophy of the Alps (before 14 BC) are attached to the Roman province of

Alpes Maritimae The Alpes Maritimae (; English: 'Maritime Alps') were a small province of the Roman Empire founded in 63 AD by Nero. It was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Graiae et Poeninae a ...

at its inception. The communities of Blegiers, Champourcin, Chanolles, Chavailles, Mariaud and Prads were all of the

Bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Cô ...

Prads

The locality of Prads appears for the first time in charters in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...

, as ''Prato'', dependent upon the Abbey of Saint Victor in

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 Fra ...

. It stood at the junction of the dioceses of

Senez Senez is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Ecclesiastical history Marcellus I, the first known bishop of Senez, attended the Council of Agde in 506 CE; nevertheless, Senez must have been an episcopal ...

, and Embrun.Baratier, Duby et Hilsdesheimer, op. cit., carte 77 Ordre divers (XIIe-XIVe siècle) The Abbey of Cistercian monks of Notre-Dame de Faillefeu (or meadows: the Abbot was called "the Abbot of the meadows") was founded in 1144 by the monks of . They founded the on February 3, 1199 (the date of the Charter of Foundation). In 1298, it belongs to the Cluny Abbey, and then passes under the authority of the college Saint-Martial in Avignon. The abbey was eventually looted, ransacked and abandoned during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

. The

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s were levied by the Chapter of

In 1843, the priest of the parish, Paul Charpenel, writes the annals of the parish of Prads, not published to date. One of the municipal measures from this period is the construction of a public fountain in the village, under the Second Republic, in 1850. The coup d'état of 2 December 1851 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte against the Second Republic caused an armed uprising in the Basses-Alpes, in defense of the constitution. After the failure of the uprising, severe repression descended on those who stood up to defend the Republic, which included an inhabitant of Prads. As with many municipalities of the department, Prads acquired schools well before the

Jules Ferry laws The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French laws which established free education in 1881, then mandatory and ''laic'' (secular) education in 1882. Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely c ...

: in 1863, it had three, located in Prads, la Favière and Tercier. These schools provided a primary education to boys. While the Falloux Laws of 1851, required the opening of a girls school in communes with more than 800 inhabitants, Prads maintained a girls school in the 1860s, but that school closed before the end of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

. It is only since the Ferry Laws that Prads girls have attended school regularly.

Blégiers

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, during the 12th century, the village of Blégiers (''Bligerium'') moved to the Roche-de-Blégiers, on a hilltop site. The community had a

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...

in the 13th century. Its population increased from 81 feus in 1315, with another 14 in 1471. At this time, it was still part of the Chapter of

that owned the domain and the Church of the Roche-de-Blégiers, before selling these in 1476 to the . From that date, it was the Bishop who appointed the responsible chaplain of the souls of this parish, and who collects revenues attached to this church. Chanolles was reported as early as 814: The

Polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

of Wadalde indicated that the Abbey of Saint Victor in

had a . The two communities of Chanolles and Champourcin which had eight feus each count of 1315, were heavily depopulated by the crises of the 14th century (the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War), and were annexed by Blegiers in the 15th century.(notice BnF n
FRBNF35450017h
Champourcin and Chanolles churches were of the chapter of Digne. The death of Queen Jeanne I opened a succession crisis in the , the towns of the Union of Aix (1382-1387), supported Charles, Duke of Durazzo against

Louis I, Duke of Anjou Louis I, Duke of Anjou (23 July 1339 – 20 September 1384) was a French prince, the second son of John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia. His career was markedly unsuccessful. Born at the Château de Vincennes, Louis was the first of the Ange ...

. The Lord of Chanolles, Louis le Roux, supported the Duke of Anjou as early as April 1382, this support was conditional on the participation of the Duke in the relief expedition to the Queen. The Lord of Blegiers, Louis Aymes, appears in the lists of support to the Angevins in 1385, after the death of Louis I. In 1765, Blégiers had 257 inhabitants. The lordship of the place had belonged successively to the Grimaldi (14th century), Puget and Eissautier families. As Prads, Blégiers acquired schools well before the

: In 1863, it had four installed in Blégiers and the villages of Heyres, Chanolles and Chavailles. These schools provided a primary education to boys. No instruction was given to girls, nor under the Falloux Laws of 1851, which required the opening of a girls school in the communes with more than 800 inhabitants, nor did the first Duruy Law (1867), which lowered the threshold to 500 inhabitants, concern Blegiers. The commune took advantage of subsidies from the second Duruy Law (1877) to build new schools everywhere. Only the Blegiers school was renovated. It is only with the Ferry Laws that girls became educated regularly. While the settlement was isolated,

polyculture In agriculture, polyculture is the practice of growing more than one crop species in the same space, at the same time. In doing this, polyculture attempts to mimic the diversity of natural ecosystems. Polyculture is the opposite of monoculture, i ...

allowed most of the needs to be met.

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

was produced locally, but had a poor reputation. A polyculture, the highest in the Bléone Valley, was abandoned before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The decline of self-sufficient polyculture continued after World War II, and harvesting wheat was stopped in 1958.

Mariaud

The community of Mariaud appears in texts in 1218 (''Mariaudum''). With a consul from 1237, it had 50 feus in 1315, but only 10 by 1471.(notice BnF n
FRBNF35450017h
The Church of Mariaud reported to the in Valence, but it was the Prior of Beaujeu, who collected the

. In the conflict between Charles, Duke of Durazzo and

in the succession of Jeanne I, the Lord of Mariaud, Gui de Saint-Marcial, supported Louis as the Duke of Anjou from the spring of 1382. It had 195 inhabitants in 1765. As Prads and Blégiers, Mariaud acquired a school well before the Jules Ferry laws, for the hamlet of Vière. Also as with Blégiers and Prads, no instruction was given to girls by the Falloux Laws of 1851, and nor did the first Duruy Laws of 1867 apply to Mariaud. Again, it was with the Ferry Laws that Mariaud girls became educated regularly. In 1939, after displacement of the village, the main settlement became Vière at Saume Longue.

French Revolution

During the

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

, the communes of Blegiers and Prads each had a patriotic society, both created after the end of 1792.

Contemporary period

Image:Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Chanolles - 1.JPG, Façade of the Church of Chanolles, to which is attached the plate bearing the names of the inhabitants of this commune who died in

Image:Saume-Longue - 10.JPG, Monument to the dead of Mariaud Image:Prads - 02.JPG, Monument to the dead of Prads Image:Eaux-Chaudes - 2.JPG, Sign commemorating the attack on the PC of the

Organisation de résistance de l'armée The ''Organisation de résistance de l'armée'', ''O.R.A.'' (Fr: resistance organisation of the army) was a French paramilitary resistance organisation during the Second World War. It was created on 31 January 1943, following the November 1942 Ger ...

(ORA, part of the FFI) Image:Eaux-Chaudes - 1.JPG, Stele commemorating the passage of the Foreign Legion Image:Absturzstelle.png, The flightpath to the crash of the A320 Airbus in 2015 On 30 July 1944, the hamlet of Eaux-Chaudes was burned by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. From 1954 to 1959 the Foreign Legion set up a camp at a place called Les Eaux-Chaudes, which hosted 30 legionaries. This camp is now in ruins.D. Ch., « Souvenir des légionnaires aux Eaux-Chaudes », La Provence, le 8 mai 2013, p. 4 The town of Prads merged with that of in 1973. That of joined them in 1977, and the commune was renamed Prads-Haute-Bléone. On 24 March 2015,

Germanwings Flight 9525 Germanwings Flight 9525 PDF of the English translation of the final report and thoriginal French version(which the BEA notes on PDF p. 2/110 of the English PDF is the primary work of reference) was a scheduled international passenger flight fr ...

, an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

flying from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, crashed in the mountains within the territory of the commune, killing all 150 passengers and crew.

Heraldry

Politics and administration

The premises of the school of Blegiers contains the municipal library.Labadie, opcit, p.56.

Demography

Prads and Prads-Haute-Bléone

In 2012, Prads-Haute-Bléone had 186 inhabitants. From the 21st century, places with less than a population of 10,000 have had a census every five years (2007, 2012, 2017, etc. for Prads-Haute-Bléone). Since 2004, the other figures are estimates. The municipality had 180 inhabitants in 1990 against 980 for the three communes of Blegiers, Mariaud and Prads in 1881. All of the three communes experienced a population peak in the 1830s with 1294 inhabitants in 1836. The table and chart that follow relate to the population of the municipality of Prads until 1968, then the new municipality of Prads (with Mariaud) in 1975, and finally Prads-Haute-Bléone (with Blegiers) from 1982. In the 19th century, after a period of growth, Prads showed a 'slack' period where the population remained relatively stable at a level high. This period lasted from 1811 to 1851. The then caused a movement of long-term demographic decline. By 1921, the municipality records the loss of more than half of its population over the historic high of 1836. The downward movement stops definitively than in the 1960s. Since then, the population has resumed some growth.

Blégiers demographics

For the enumeration of 1315, Blegiers, Chanolles, and Champourcin populations were added together. The demographic history of Blegiers is marked by the loss of population during the 14th and 15th centuries due to the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War, crises which completely destroyed the communities of Chanolles and Champourcin and also touched that of Blegiers, strongly. In the 19th century, after a period of growth, Blegiers had a 'slack' period where the population remained relatively stable at a level high. This period lasted from 1821 to 1851. The then caused a faster long-term decline than in Prads. By 1906, the settlement had lost more than half of its population, since the historic maximum in 1836. The downward movement continued until the 1970s and the merger with Prads.

Mariaud demographics

Just like Blegiers, Mariaud is marked by a loss of population during the 14th and 15th centuries due to the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War, and lost 80% of its population between 1315 and 1471. However, the depopulation crisis had been over for several decades by 1471. In the 19th century, after a period of growth, Mariaud shows a period of 'slack' for longer than its neighbours, from 1806 to 1866. Though, if the began here later, it affected Mariaud, Blegiers and Prads with equal strength. In 1911, the town had lost more than half its population compared to the historical maximum of 1831. The downward movement continued until the 1960s and brought about the merger with Prads.

Sites and monuments

Natural places

The RD107 road offers beautiful panoramic views.

Churches and chapels

The Sainte-Anne Parish Church of Prads, which dates from the 14th century, was entirely rebuilt in 1876-1878, and repaired in 1888. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, long with three bays, leads into a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

of false-style Gothic. It is oriented to the north-west. The Abbey of Sainte-Marie-de-Villevieille, known as Faillefeu or Prads was built in the middle of the 12th century by the monks of Boscodon, which was then given to the Abbey of Cîteaux. The priory was then dependent on Cluny. The church has collapsed completely and is a pile of earth and stone, between the monastic buildings still standing. Image:Blégiers - 2.JPG, The church of Our Lady of Blégiers, decrepit in 2012 Image:Blégiers - 3.JPG, The interior of Our Lady of Blégiers Image:Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Chanolles - 2.JPG, The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Chanolles, north wall Image:Église Saint-Laurent de Chavailles - 10.JPG, Façade and bell tower of the Church of Saint-Laurent of Chavailles Image:Prads - 10.JPG, The church of Sainte-Anne of Prads Image:Vière de Mariaud - 05.JPG, Façade of the Church of Saint-Étienne of Mariaud Image:Église Notre-Dame-de-Beauvezer de Champourçin - 1.JPG, Façade of the Church of Our Lady of Beauvezer, in Champourcin The commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone gathers three old communes and six medieval communities, which explains the large number of religious buildings that are found in its territory: *The Chapel of Our Lady at Tercier, rebuilt by the inhabitants in 1829. *The Church of Our Lady at Blegiers, which was originally a small chapel is much extended around 1830 with the ancient Saint-Barbara's Chapel being converted into a sacristy. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1877. *The Heyres Saint-Roch Chapel, which was a branch of Our Lady at Blegiers, was restored in 1982. It is built at an altitude of . *The Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (rebuilt in 1810, restored in 1865) at Chanolles, with a statue of St. John from the 15th century, carved, painted wooden and classified. Its bell tower dates from the end of the 19th century. *The Church of Saint-Laurent at Chavailles (formerly Saint-Sauveur) was rebuilt in 1842 after being originally built in the 13th century. The bell tower dates from the

. In the church furniture, a silver ciborium dated from the 17th century (classified as a Monument historique object). Its small processional cross, silver, dates from the 18th century and is also classified. *The old Church of Our Lady of Beauvezer in Champourcin (the

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

and the

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the p ...

of silver, from the 17th century, are classified). *At the village of Champourcin, Saint-Christophe's Church is installed in a basement, with a bell tower in the garden. Vière de Mariaud - 10

*The Chapel of Our Lady of the Transfiguration, in the hamlet of la Favière, rebuilt in 1838. The Church was the seat of a parish in the 14th century, the presbytery dates from the beginning of the 1870s, the bell tower of the 1880s. *The ruins of the Church of Saint-Étienne of Vière ( Romanesque, built in the 13th century with ongoing restoration since 2011), in the former village of Mariaud. The cobbles of the

parvise A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forecourt, front yard or a ...

of the Church of Saint-Étienne draws a

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold Cross", or "cross-and-crosslets") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. It was used as t ...

inscribed in a Reuleaux triangle. Image:Blégiers - 4.JPG, Transfiguration at Blégiers Image:Chavailles - 15.JPG,

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Tow ...

at Chavailles Image:Chavailles - 16.JPG, The Holy family around the carpenter's workbench with traditional tools Image:Bannière de procession, Église Saint-Laurent de Chavailles.JPG, Banner of procession to the Church Saint-Laurent of Chavailles Image:Prads - 06.JPG, Medieval baptismal font of Prads

Castle

The Château de Mariaud is in a state of ruin.

Notable people

This is the village of father, the writer frequently spends his summer vacation here. was an 18th-century

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

who was born in Blégiers.

Books

* This book, very well documented, traces the history of the ancient Abbey of Faillefeu and the exploitation of the homonymous forest. The author cites ancient families involved in the logging and transport of logs floated along the Bléone Valley. * This book is the transcription of the book by reason of a family of farmers, over 6 generations, living in the hamlet of Adret, within the former commune of Mariaud. It traces mainly baptisms and the accounts of the household, as well as important transactions received before a notary.

Bibliography

* * ( BnF no
FRBNF35450017h

References

External links

Prads-Haute-Bléone on the website of the Institut géographique national
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradshautebleone Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence