The Ubaye Valley is an area in the

Alpes de Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the eas ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'', in the

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

, having approximately 7,700 residents.Ubaye - Vallée de l'Ubaye - Ubaye, Barcelonnette, la Condamine-Châtelard, Enchastrayes, le Sauze, Faucon, Jausiers, Larche, Lauzet Ubaye, Méolans Revel, Laverq, Meyronnes, Saint Ours, Pontis, Saint Paul sur Ubaye, Serennes, Maurin, Maljasset, Saint Pons, les Thuiles, Uvernet Fours, Bayasse, Pra-Loup, la Bréole, Saint-Vincent-les-Forts, Chambeyron, Séolane, Parpaillon
/ref> Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''

sous-préfecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

'' of

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; oc, Barciloneta de Provença, also ; obsolete it, Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the souther ...

. 350px, A view of the Ubaye valley

Ubaye River - Hydrography

*The Ubaye River gives its name to the valley. The Ubaye rises on the Franco-Italian border, in Longet Lake, in the ''massif'' of

Monte Viso Monte Viso or Monviso (; oc, Vísol; Piedmontese: ''Brich Monviso'' or ''Viso'') is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps. It is located in Italy close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape and, because it i ...

. It runs from east to west for , before it flows into Serre-Ponçon Lake. Its main tributary is the Ubayette River, which rise in the Lauzanier Lake. * Ubaye Valley has many lakes : ** Terre-Plaine lake ** Neuf-Couleur Lake ** Sagnes Lake ** Lauzanier lake ** Lake Allos ** Petite Cayolle lake ** Mans lakes ** Longet lake ** Oronaye lake, near Longet lake ** Marinet Lake

Peaks

Ubaye Valley's highest mountain is the

Aiguille de Chambeyron Aiguille de Chambeyron (3,412m) is a mountain of the Cottian Alps and is the highest mountain of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southeast France. Together with its neighbour Brec de Chambeyron, it is the dominant peak of the upper Ubaye Valley. The ...

(). The second one is the

Brec de Chambeyron Brec de Chambeyron (3,389) is a mountain of the Cottian Alps on the border between France and Italy. It is the second highest summit of the Chambeyron Massif, after Aiguille de Chambeyron and its sharp, rocky peak dominates the Upper Ubaye Valle ...

().

Towns

* Its two largest towns are

and

Jausiers Jausiers (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Jausièr'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Politics and administration Population See also * Ubaye Valley *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department ...

. From Low Valley to High Valley, near Ubaye the towns are:

Le Lauzet-Ubaye Le Lauzet-Ubaye is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also * Ubaye Valley *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 Communes of France, c ...

, Les Thuiles (Lauzet's hamlet), Méolans-Revel, Barcelonnette, Faucon-de-Barcelonnette, Jausiers,

La Condamine-Châtelard La Condamine-Châtelard (; oc, La Condamina e lo Chastelar) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also * Ubaye Valley *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The followin ...

Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye (, literally ''Saint-Paul on Ubaye''; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Sant Pau d'Ubaia'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also * Ubaye Valley *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haut ...

and Tournoux. * There are several ski stations: Le Sauze,

Pra-Loup Pra-Loup is a ski resort in France, at Uvernet-Fours in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, from the town of Barcelonnette. Geography Ski area The ski station has two separate base areas, 2 km apart: * Pra-Loup 1600 - primary base area at above ...

(near Barcelonnette) and Sainte Anne (near La Condamine-Châtelard). * Two small towns in the Ubayette valley:

Meyronnes Meyronnes (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Maironas'') is a former commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Val-d'Oronaye.Larche.

Access

There are only six passable vehicle roads during the summer: *From the Haute-

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

(West) : "Pas-la-Tour" near

, open year-round *From the

Verdon Verdon may refer to: People * Verdon (surname) Places France * Verdon, Dordogne, in the Dordogne ''département'' * Verdon, Marne, in the Marne ''département'' * Vinon-sur-Verdon, an old French town in the département of Var, Provence-Alpes- ...

(South) :

Col de la Cayolle Col de la Cayolle (el. 2,326 m) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps at the border between the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes ...

and

Col d'Allos Col d'Allos (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Colmars. It lies parallel to the Col de la Cayolle and Col de la Bonette west ...

(closed in winter) *From the

Tinée The Tinée (; oc, Tiniá) is a river that flows through the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France. It is long. Its drainage basin is .

(South) :

Col de la Bonette Col de la Bonette (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps, near the border with Italy. It is situated within the Mercantour National Park on the border of the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The road over t ...

at 2,750 meters, the highest road of Alps and the highest road in Europe (closed in winter) *From

Stura Stura was a department of the French Consulate and of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the river Stura di Demonte. It was formed in 1802, when the Subalpine Republic (formerly the mainland portion of the Kingd ...

Valley (Italy), (East): Pass of

Col de Larche The Maddalena Pass (Italian: ''Colle della Maddalena'' French: ''Col de Larche'', historically ''Col de l'Argentière'') (elevation 1996 m.) is a high mountain pass between the Cottian Alps and the Maritime Alps, located on the border between Ita ...

(closed in winter) *From the

Queyras The Queyras ( oc, Cairàs) is a valley located in the French Hautes-Alpes, of which the geographical extent is the basin of the river Guil, a tributary of the Durance. The Queyras is one of the oldest mountain ranges of the Alps, and it was one of ...

(North) : Col de Vars (closed in winter).

History

* The Ubaye valley has been populated since prehistoric times. * The

Esubii The Esuvii (or Esubii; Gaulish: ''Esuuii'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling between the lower Seine and the Loire rivers, in what is now Normandy, during the Iron Age. Name Their tribal name appears to be related to the theonym ''Esus''., s.v. '' ...

, a

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

ish tribe, historically lived in the valley. * It was incorporated into the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

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 ...

. A

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

crossed the valley and the Romans occupied the Faucon-de-Barcelonnette's area. * Christianized since the end of Roman Empire, Ubaye Valley belonged to the diocese of Embrun. * The valley was in 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 ...

during 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 a ...

. * Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 by

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence Ramon Berenguer IV (french: Raimond-Bérenger; 1198 – 19 August 1245) was a member of the House of Barcelona who ruled as count of Provence and Forcalquier. He was the first count of Provence to live in the county in more than one hundred years ...

. * François Ier crossed the pass of Larche to attack

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 ...

in the 16th century. * Until the 1713

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

the valley was part of the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...

from its head to the confluence of the rivers Ubaye and

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 .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 ...

. * In the 1830s, the first real road to the valley was opened. * During the 19th century and the start of the 20th, many of Ubaye's people emigrated to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. * Ubaye Valley was occupied by Italians in 1942, then by Germans in 1943 and 1944

Administration

The valley is in the ''arrondissement'' of Barcelonnette, and has two '' cantons''.

Natural sites

* Lakes * Mountains: L'Aiguille du Chambeyron, the Séolanes, Siguret, "la Tête de Louis XVI". * The

Mercantour Mercantour National Park (french: Parc national du Mercantour) a French national park located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes departments. Since it was created in 1979, the park has proven popular, with 800,000 visitors ann ...

National Park

Monuments

* Cardinalis Tower (Barcelonnette) * Museum of Ubaye Valley (Barcelonnette) * "Les Villas Mexicaines" (Barcelonnette and

) * Church of Faucon-de-Barcelonnette. * Church Saint Nicolas de Myre (Jausiers) * Magnans's Castle (Jausiers) * Abriès Mill (Jausiers) * Cuguret stronghold. (Jausiers) *

Fort de Tournoux The Fort de Tournoux is a fortification complex in the Ubaye Valley in the French Alps. It was built between 1843 and the early 20th century to defend France against invasion from Italy and Savoy. It was described as the "Military Versailles of ...

(La Condamine-Châtelard)

Notable residents

Paul Reynaud Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of ...

, born in Barcelonnette * The Brothers Arnaud, born in Jausiers *

Jacques-Antoine Manuel Jacques-Antoine Manuel (10 December 1775 – 20 August 1827) was a French lawyer, politician, and noted orator. Biography Manuel was born in the hamlet of La Conchette, in Enchastrayes (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), near Barcelonette. His family inc ...

, born in Barcelonnette

Notes

External links

Website of Ubaye Valley
{{coord, 44.433780, 6.656342, type:city, display=title Landforms of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Valleys of France Landforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur