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 department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the w ...

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

'', 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 subprefectures. ...

'' 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 The Ubaye (; oc, Ubaia) is a river of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is .Longet Lake, in the ''massif'' of Monte Viso. 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 (). The second one is the Brec de Chambeyron ().

Towns

* Its two largest towns are

and Jausiers. 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 the Alpes ...

, Les Thuiles (Lauzet's hamlet), Méolans-Revel, Barcelonnette, Faucon-de-Barcelonnette, Jausiers, La Condamine-Châtelard, Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye and Tournoux. * There are several ski stations: Le Sauze, Pra-Loup (near Barcelonnette) and Sainte Anne (near La Condamine-Châtelard). * Two small towns in the Ubayette valley: Meyronnes and 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 bo ...

(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 and Col d'Allos (closed in winter) *From the Tinée (South) : Col de la Bonette at 2,750 meters, the highest road of Alps and the highest road in Europe (closed in winter) *From Stura Valley (Italy), (East): Pass of Col de Larche (closed in winter) *From the Queyras (North) :

Col de Vars The Col de Vars, elevation 2108 m (6916 ft) is a high mountain pass in the Alps between the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects the Ubaye Valley with the Queyras valley and Embrun. It is tr ...

(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-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

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 ...

. 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 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Embrun was located in southeastern France, in the mountains of the Maritime Alps, on a route that led from Gap by way of Briançon to Turin. It had as suffragans the Diocese of Digne, Diocese of Antibes and Gra ...

. * The valley was in the county of Provence 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 ...

. * Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. *

François Ier Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 du ...

from its head to the confluence of the rivers

Ubaye The Ubaye (; oc, Ubaia) is a river of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is .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 conside ...

. * 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 language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. * 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 ''

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

s''.

Natural sites

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

Monuments

* Cardinalis Tower (Barcelonnette) * Museum of Ubaye Valley (Barcelonnette) * "Les Villas Mexicaines" (Barcelonnette and Jausiers) * Church of Faucon-de-Barcelonnette. * Church Saint Nicolas de Myre (Jausiers) * Magnans's Castle (Jausiers) * Abriès Mill (Jausiers) * Cuguret stronghold. (Jausiers) * Fort de Tournoux (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, 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