Vif () is a commune in the

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

department in southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The town hosts the

Champollion Museum The Champollion Museum () is located in Figeac, Lot, France. It houses a collection devoted to Figeac's most famous son, Jean-François Champollion. It was inaugurated 19 December 1986 in the presence of President François Mitterrand and Jea ...

, located in the former residence of the Champollion family. Closed for renovations, it reopened in June 2021.

Geography

Vif is situated in the Valley of Gresse, in the south of Grenoble, upon the north-east

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the Vercors. The town is crossed by the Gresse river (which come from Gresse-en-Vercors). Vif lies 16 km (10 mi) south of

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, 65 km (40 mi) north-west of Gap and 65 km (40 mi) north-east of Valence.

Population

Sights

* Vif is the home of the

, settled in the former family house of

Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac (), also known as Champollion ''l'aîné'' ('the Elder'; 5 October 1778 – 9 May 1867) was a French archaeologist, elder brother of Jean-François Champollion (decipherer of the Rosetta Stone). Biography He was ...

and his wife Zoé Berriat. * The city is the cradle of the French company Vicat, founded by Joseph Vicat (son of

Louis Vicat Louis Vicat (31 March 1786, Nevers – 10 April 1861, Grenoble) was a French engineer. He graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1804 and the École des Ponts et Chaussées in 1806. Vicat studied the setting of mortars and developed his ow ...

). The first cement works was built in Genevrey-de-Vif in 1857. * The town has two churches: Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Vif and Saint-Marie du Genevrey, which is one of the oldest medieval churches in Grenoble métropole. * The actual

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

was an ancient monastery until 1792, then a

silk mill A silk mill is a factory that makes silk for garments using a process called silk throwing. Traditionally, silk mills were concentrated in Japan, England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Italy and Switzerland. Silk throwing process Silk is a naturally ...

managed by the Berriat family. The "Line of Alps", a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

connecting

to Gap via the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, crosses the town territory on a 19th-century

railway viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide va ...

, the viaduct of Crozet (''viaduc du Crozet'').

Notable people

* Charles Le Goux de La Berchère (1647-1719), bishop *

(1778-1867),

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, brother of Jean-François (Champollion ''le Jeune'') *

Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure ...

(1790-1832),

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and orientalist, decipherer of Egyptian hieroglpyhs * ''Frenchy'' (1843-1894), first settler of today's

Oliver Lee Memorial State Park Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is a state park of New Mexico, United States, whose two tracts preserve a canyon in the Sacramento Mountains and Oliver Lee's historic 19th-century ranch house. The park is located in Otero County at an elevati ...

(

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

) *

Yves de La Brière Yves de La Brière (30 January 1877 – 25 February 1941) was an influential French Jesuit theologian and author. He was a monarchist and supported the League of Nations. He was opposed to war, but wrote on the Christian tradition of just war. He ...

(1877-1941), French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

born in Vif.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vif is twinned with: *

Rivalta di Torino Rivalta di Torino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 14 km southwest of Turin in the valley of the Sangone. It is home to a medieval castle, around which the town o ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, since 1985

Geography

Population

Sights

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

See also