Allos
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Allos (; oc, Alòs) 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 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 west ...
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 of southeastern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Allos is a high mountain commune in the southern Alps. The commune experienced a significant rural exodus in the 19th century, following the population movement of the department. Then the town was overwhelmed for eighty years by
winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...
: the construction of accommodations and ski-lifts has changed the landscape and the mountain urbanisation. The economy was profoundly altered with almost all jobs being found in tourism. Traditional agricultural activities persisted only marginally. Historically Allos, located in the valley of the Verdon, has long been linked to the
Ubaye Valley The Ubaye Valley is an area in the Alpes de Haute-Provence ''département'', in the French Alps, having approximately 7,700 residents. Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''sous-préfecture'' of Barcelonnette. 350px, ...
: first at the time when Ubaye belonged to the States of Savoy (from 1388 to 1713) then after it became part of France it continued to be administered across the Col d'Allos (impassable in winter). Even after the Revolution, it was attached to the Barcelonnette district. It was not until 1985 that it was (administratively) turned towards the valley by accepting the connection to the Canton of Colmars. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Allossards'' or ''Allossardes''


Geography

Allos is located some 12 km south 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 southern ...
and some 100 km north-west of
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
at an altitude of 1425 m. The Allos valley is traversed by 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-Cô ...
which has its source in the ''Foux d'Allos'' in the Sestriere valley at 2500 m altitude. Access to the commune is by the D908 road: a tortuous road running off the D902 south of
Barcelonette 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 southern ...
which passes through the heart of the commune and the village before continuing south to
Colmars Colmars or Colmars-les-Alpes (''Còumars'' in provençal) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars", but it ...
. Located at the edge of the
Mercantour National Park 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 annu ...
, the country of Upper Verdon and the Allos valley offers landscapes of great beauty: from the famous ''Lac d'Allos'' (Allos Lake) which is the largest mountain lake in Europe to the waterfall of ''La Lance'', near
Colmars-les-Alpes Colmars or Colmars-les-Alpes (''Còumars'' in provençal) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars", but it ...
. The flora is rich and varied depending on the altitude:
larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furt ...
,
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
,
fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
as well as
Alpine clematis ''Clematis alpina'', the Alpine clematis, is a flowering deciduous vine of the genus ''Clematis''. Like many members of that genus, it is prized by gardeners for its showy flowers. It bears 1 to 3-inch spring flowers on long stalks in a wide va ...
,
peonies The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...
, and Martagon.


Geology

The mountains around Allos are composed of black
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 ...
.


Relief

All around Allos from the
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 ...
(2247 m, north of the village) and in a clockwise direction: *on a north-south ridge of the Cheiroueche mountain (2362m) which overlooks the village, the Roche Grande (2409 m), completely denuded of vegetation; *to the north: the ''Petit Cheval de Bois'' (Little Wooden Horse) (2754 m) and the ''Grand Cheval de Bois'' (Large Wooden Horse) (2838 m), the ''Pichs'' or ''Nivoulet'' (2575 m); *to the east: the ''Cimet'' (3020 m), separated from the ''Teton'' (2969 m) by the small ''col de Talon'' (2678 m), ''Mount Pelat'' (3050 m), and between Allos and Mont Pelat the ''Tête du Vallonnet'' (Head of Vallonnet) (2710 m) and the ''Tête de Prachastel'' (Head of Prachastel) (2320 m); *around Lake Allos: the ''Trou de l'Aigle'' (Hole of the Eagle) (2961 m), the ''Col de la Petite Cayolle'' (2639 m), the ''Garrets summit'' (2822 m), the ''Montagne de l'Avalanche'' (Mountain of Avalanches) (2729 m), the ''Tete du Lac'' (Head of the Lake) (2626 m), the group of ''Tours du Lac'' (Towers of the Lake) which is five peaks between 2585 and 2745 m, and the ''Tete de Valplane'' (Head of Valplane) (2624 m); *to the South: the ''Roche Cline'' (2415 m) and on the right bank of 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-Cô ...
the ''Autapie'' (2435 m); *to the west: the ''Gros Tapie'' (2371 m), the summit of ''Valcibière'' (2375 m), the Mourre Gros (2652 m), the ''Tete Noire'' (Black Head) (2560 m), the ''Tete de l'Auriac'' (Head of Auriac) (2639 m), the ''Trois-Évêchés'' (Three bishoprics) (2818 m), the ''Tete de la Sestriere'' (Head of Sestriere) (2575 m); *to the northwest of the Col d'Allos: the ''Tete de Vescal'' (Head of Vescal) (2515 m). The peaks to the west of Allos belong to the ''
Massif des Trois-Évêchés Massif des Trois-Évêchés ( oc, Massís dei Tres Eveschats, literally the massif of the Three Bishoprics) is a mountain range in the Provence Alps and Prealps in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. Its name comes from the central summit of the mas ...
'' (Three bishoprics mountains) while to the east are the secondary mountains of Mount Pelat.


Environment

The town has 1,869
hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...
of woods and forests.


Hamlets

* La Beaumelle; * La Beaume; * La Foux; * La Foux d’Allos; * Le Seignus (Bas and Haut); * le Villard (Bas and Haut); * Le Brec Bas et Haut; * Sainte-Brigitte (Basse and Haute); * Le Foreston; * Bouchiers; * La Peyrière (Basse and Haute); * Prémin; * Montgros; * Champrichard; * Le Collet;


Natural and technological risks

None of the 200 communes of the department is in a no-risk seismic area. The commune is in zone 1b (low risk) according to the deterministic classification of 1991 and based on historical earthquakes. It is in Zone 4 (medium risk) according to the ECS probability classification of 2011. Allos commune is also exposed to four other natural hazards: avalanche, forest fire, flooding (in the valley of 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-Cô ...
), landslide (the commune is affected by a random medium to high risk in limited areas). Allos commune is exposed to a risk of technological origin - i.e. the risk of dam breakage on the hill reservoir of Tardée above the Foux-d'Allos ski-station. The prevention plan for foreseeable natural risks (PPR) for the commune was approved in 1998 for flood risk, landslide, and avalanche; and a ''Communal Dossier on Major Risks'' (DICRIM) has existed since 2010. The commune has been the location of several natural disasters: an earthquake in 1984, flooding and mudslides in 1994 and 2003. In November 2012 a landslide cut off the only access road to the hamlets of Bouchiers and Le Collet - a cut that lasted more than seven months.


Neighbouring communes and villages

Google Maps
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Toponymy

The locality appears for the first time in texts from 1056 under the name of ''ad Alodes'' which means ''
Allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod (Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodium ...
s'' in
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 Occitan (; o ...
. A Pre-Gallic hypothesis has also been considered more in line with local phonetic rules such as ''Fénié''. The name ''Allos'' derived then from ''Al-'' designating "rocks". The form ''Alodes'' would be in this case a bad romanization. The commune is called ''Alòs'' in
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 Occitan (; o ...
Vivaro-Alpine dialect 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 e ...
. The name of the station ''La Foux-d'Allos'' means "narrow gorges" between the surrounding peaks.


History

The name of the people located in the upper valley of the Verdon is not certain but it may be the ''Eguiturii''. At the end of the Roman Empire the upper valley of the Verdon depended on the
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
and the bishopric of Thorame. It is possible that the first village was built around Notre-Dame-du-Valvert in the High
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 ...
. It would then have been perched at Banivol before moving lower in the 12th to 13th centuries. The village was cited in 1056 and had its own ''consulat'' from 1233, by privilege from the
Comte de 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 ...
,André Gouron
''Diffusion of Southern consulates and expansion of Roman law in the 12th and 13th centuries''
Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes, 1963, Vol. 121. p. 49.
and a
Fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
. Allos belonged to the Counts of Provence until 1388 then, with the
Ubaye Valley The Ubaye Valley is an area in the Alpes de Haute-Provence ''département'', in the French Alps, having approximately 7,700 residents. Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''sous-préfecture'' of Barcelonnette. 350px, ...
and
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
, passed to the
Counts of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at the ...
until 1713. From that time until the beginning of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
Allos was administratively attached to
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 southern ...
. The first division of Basses-Alpes included Allos in the Barcelonnette district. During 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 ...
the Duke of Lesdiguières bombarded the town without taking it in 1597. He had brought his army through the ''Col de Thuiles''. The peculiarities of the Allos community, which occupies several deep valleys and whose habitat is dispersed across multiple villages, led to the creation of three parishes in the 17th century: one in La Foux, one in Bouchiers, and one in Baumelle. A large number of chapels were also built: 29 in total throughout history. Several major fires ravaged the town in 1718, 1747, and 1769. 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 commune had a ''patriotic society'' which was created at the end of 1792. In the 20th century Allos became a tourist town: in 1935, the ski-lifts were built at Seignus and Foux. In the 1970s, when winter sports become mass entertainment, more ski resorts were built in two hamlets. It was not until 1985 qu'Allos turns towards the valley by integrating with the
Arrondissement of Castellane The arrondissement of Castellane is an arrondissement of France in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has 41 communes. Its population is 11,403 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes ...
.


Heraldry

Canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial allus ...
: Allos, in
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 ...
''Allosium'', in
Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...
''Alouès''. Alo-west Wing-bone.


Administration

List of Successive Mayors ;Mayors from 1971 The election of the City Council in March 2008 was the subject of an appeal to the administrative court of
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 ...
; the judgment led to new elections in September.


Population


Education

The town has had a computerized library since 2004
See online catalogue
in the Haut-Verdon library network (Communauté de communes du Haut-Verdon-Val-d'Allos) and has two primary schools (one at Allos and one in La Foux d'Allos).


Economy


Overview

Allos is a high mountain commune whose main resource is tourism - hiking in the summer - but especially winter sports. In 2017 the active population was 525 people including 24 unemployed. These workers are mostly employed (66.9%) and the vast majority work in the commune (83%). This can be explained by the predominance of the tourism sector which provides sufficient employment to the people of the commune. As a result, most of the people of the commune work in services and administration (96% at the end of 2015). Industry, construction and agriculture employ 12 people in total. At the end of 2015 establishments active in the commune were mainly shops and services (372 of 501 establishments) and health and social administrative sector (91).


Agriculture

At the end of 2015 the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, fisheries) had 9 different establishments with 2 employees. Most of the survey data from the Ministry of Agriculture are subject to statistical secrecy which indicates low numbers and extent of cultivated land. In 2000 three farms used a utilized agricultural area (UAA) of 281 hectares - the area has been in sharp decline since 1988 (406 hectares).


Industry

In late 2015 the secondary sector (industry and construction) had 29 establishments mainly crafts (24 companies with no employees). The sector employs 10 people.


Service activities

The commune has two ski-stations: *Val d'Allos-La Foux, which links to the
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 ...
ski area; *Val d'Allos-Le Seignus, which is called the village-station because it is connected by
Aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...
to Allos village. Summer tourism is also developed with different lakes and mountain walks. In late 2015 the tertiary sector (trades and services) had 372 establishments (with 286 employees) plus 91 administrative establishments and the health and social sectors (employing 30 people). According to the Department of Tourism, tourism activity is very important for the commune with more than 5 tourists per resident and with a large capacity for accommodation. Several accommodation facilities for tourists exist in the commune (as of January 2020): *10 hotels (3 ranked two stars, and one three-star) with a capacity of 161 beds; *no camping; *some furnished, some approved; *B & Bs are absent from the commune; *a large carrying capacity in various collective accommodations (summer shelters, youth hostels, holiday villages). It is nevertheless second homes that weigh more heavily on the capacity with 5,110 second homes (92.6% of the 5,520 dwellings).


Culture and heritage

The commune contains a very large number of sites that are registered as historical monuments. Lists below are abridged showing the main sites. There is also a very large number of items registered as historical objects located at: *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Fleur (2 items) *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette (1 item) *The Chapel of Saint-Antoine (11 items) *The Chapel of Saint-Laurent (8 items) *The Chapel of Saint Pierre (6 items) *The Chapel of Saint Sebastian (58 items) *The Chapel of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (5 items) *The Church of Notre-Dame-de-Valvert (59 items) *The Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Baumelle (3 items) *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lumiere (12 items) *The Church of Saint John the Baptist (21 items)


Civil heritage

There are still remnants of medieval structures: *The City Fortifications (Middle Ages) *The Banivol Tower (Middle Ages) is 7.2 m square. It may have protected a small town. Examples of later structures registered as historical monuments: *The Cooperative Dairy Factory (1931) *The Abrau Bridge (16th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée *A
Lavoir A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laund ...
(Public laundry) (19th century) *The Town Hall (19th century) ;Other sites of interest *The Ski-station of Foux d'Allos in the classic style of ski-stations with roofs dominated by
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...
(mid-1980s) with a presence of roof slate and traditional scale tiles. *A Sundial in Allos village (1913).


Religious monuments

The churches and rural chapels are in a simple alpine style imposed by the climate. Notre-Dame-de-Valvert at Allos is a good example from the 13th century. The extent of the commune with its large population the 19th century, when the parishes and their branches were under the
Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...
plan, made communications difficult due to the terrain and snow in winter. All these conditions justified the creation of several parish churches which are now registered as historical monuments: *The Church of Notre-Dame-de-Valvert (13th century) Ministry of Culture, Mérimée *The Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist at la Foux (17th century) in traditional Romanesque style and whose facade is decorated with a
sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
from 1757. It has an
ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...
in leather from Cordoba dated 1675; *The Parish Church of Saint-Antoine at Bouchier (1862) The commune also has many chapels which are also registered as historical monuments: *The Chapel of Saint Sebastian or Chapel of White Penitents (18th century) has the rise to glory of Saint Sebastian painted on the dome. It is used for parish worship in Winter. *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Fleur at Villard-Haut (17th century) *The Chapel of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine at Villard-Bas (19th century) *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce at Seignus-Bas (19th century). *The Chapel of Sainte-Brigitte and Saint-Joseph at Sainte-Brigitte (1890) *The Chapel of Saint-Roch at Plan-Ouest (17th century) *The Chapel of Saint Laurent at Seignus-Haut (1624) *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lumière (formerly a parish church) at Baumelle (1857) *The Chapel of Saint-Pierre near Basse-Colette (16th century) has a
Retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...
closed by two small doors from the 16th century *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette at Charrières-Sud (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée ;Other religious sites of interest *The Chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Monts has a sundial dated 1757 and bearing the legend ''Dieu seul est éternel; déjà loin de toi'' ("God alone is eternal; already far from you") *The Chapel of Saint-Jacques at Seignus-Bas


The Church of Notre-Dame-de-Valvert

The parish church of Allos dates from the first half of the 13th century and was listed as a historical monument in 1846 for the parts dating from the second half of the 9th and 10th centuries. It is built in
Brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...
in a regular way with a
chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
made of a single semicircular
Apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
, vaulted in ''cul-de-four''. Like all churches in alpine style only the south wall has three bays which are semicircular. The decor is unusual with walls decorated with a series of small arcs. The decor is a late development (13th century) of the
Lombard band A Lombard band is a decorative blind arcade, usually located on the exterior of building. It was frequently used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods of Western architecture. It resembles a frieze of arches. Lombard bands are believed to ha ...
. The capitals are adorned with foliage, except for the facade, and decorated with masks (Lombard influence) and animals. The front is reinforced by two buttresses at the corners. Raymond Collier identifies several characteristics of Notre-Dame-de-Valvert different from the communal type of alpine Romanesque: *the pilasters supporting the ''Arc-doubleaux'' are replaced by engaged columns (or half-columns); It was damaged at the beginning of the 17th century and again in 1697 by the war: the second time the Savoyards caused the collapse of the tower. The vault of the choir was repaired between that date and 1723 before the bell was worn out in 1727. The Allos fire on 15 November 1747 reached the church and caused extensive damage. A new tower was built in 1751. Major restoration work took place between 1894 and 1896: the bottom of the facade and the ''Mur gouttereau'' (guttered walls), the bay windows, and the
Buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
es were completely rebuilt and the roof of the third bay itself was also completely rebuilt. The rest of the arches and the bell tower were rebuilt in 1899-1904 with various repairs, when the murals disappeared.


Gallery

Allos lake 01.jpg, Chapel Allos lake 02.jpg, Allos lake Allos lake 03.jpg, Allos lake and Mt. Pelat Allos lake 04.jpg, Allos lake and the chapel


Notable people linked to the commune

*Patritti: a painter of the 19th century *Jean-Esprit Pellissier, priest until 1905, he was the historian of the town. *Simon-Jude Honnorat (1783-1852), doctor and also the town historian and author of the ''Great dictionary of the Occitan language''


See also

*
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 ...
*
Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Georges Duby Georges Duby (7 October 1919 – 3 December 1996) was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of Franc ...
, and Ernest Hildesheimer, ''Historical Atlas. Provence, Comtat Venaissin, Principality of Orange, County of Nice, Principality of Monaco'', Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1969


References


External links


Allos on the old National Geographic Institute website



Allos on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Allos'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence