Briançon in the Cottian Alps

Monday, 22 January 2018 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, French Riviera, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Benj05/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Benj05/cc-by-sa-3.0

Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. At an altitude of 1,326 metres (4,350 feet) it is the highest city in France, based on the French definition as a community containing more than 2,000 inhabitants. Briançon’s most recent population estimate is 12,00. Briançon is built on a plateau centred on the confluence of the Durance and the Guisane rivers. Briançon is the base and lowest altitude station of the large Serre Chevalier ski resort. Most of the town’s accommodation is used exclusively in winter, the population tripling during that period.

The historical centre is a strongly fortified town, built by Vauban to defend the region from Austrians in the 17th century. Its streets are very steep and narrow, though picturesque. Briançon lies at the foot of the descent from the Col de Montgenèvre, giving access to Turin, so a great number of other fortifications have been constructed on the surrounding heights, especially towards the east. The Fort Janus is no less than 1,200 m. above the town. The parish church, with its two towers, was built 1703–1726, and occupies a very conspicuous position. The Pont d’Asfeld, east of the town, was built in 1734, and forms an arch of 40 m span, thrown at a height of 56 m across the Durance. The modern town extends in the plain at the southwest foot of the plateau on which the old town is built and forms the suburb of Ste Catherine. Briançon is close to the Parc National des Ecrins and the Vallée de la Clarée. On 8 July 2008, several buildings of Briançon were classified by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, as part of the Fortifications of Vauban group. These buildings are: the city walls, Redoute des Salettes, Fort des Trois-Têtes, Fort du Randouillet, ouvrage de la communication Y and the Asfeld Bridge. Along with Briançon, 11 other sites of fortified buildings in France were classified. Among them is the place-forte of Mont-Dauphin, also in the Hautes-Alpes department. These pieces of art were designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633–1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV.

© Benj05/cc-by-sa-3.0 © panoramio.com - Carsten Wiehe/cc-by-sa-3.0 © panoramio.com - Gilles Guillamot/cc-by-sa-3.0 Town Hall - Édouard Hue/cc-by-sa-3.0 Citadel of Briançon © Tipiac/cc-by-sa-3.0
<
>
© panoramio.com - Gilles Guillamot/cc-by-sa-3.0
Briançon has often hosted starts and finishes of stages of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Critérium du Dauphiné. As Briançon has regularly featured as a stage town in the Tour de France, it is a popular base for cyclists. Since 1947, the town has been the start point for a stage of the Tour 22 times, and has also been a stage finish 22 times. In 2007, the town was the finish of the 159.5 km (99.1 mi) stage 9 on 17 July from Val-d’Isère crossing the Col de l’Iseran, the Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier with a 37 km (23 mi) downhill finish to Briançon.

Briançon is situated around the confluence of the Durance river and its tributary the Guisane which are fed with snow melt in the Spring. Tourists come from around Europe to kayak and raft on the resultant whitewater rivers and their tributaries, including the Onde, the Gyronde, the Guil, the Rabioux, the Ubaye and others; often basing themselves in Briançon. Popular white water rivers in the Alps are mainly medium volume glacier-fed rivers with long continuous rapids and few big drops. The season is short (two or three months in early summer when the snow and glaciers are melting) but the whitewater is reliable during this period.

Read more on Ville Briançon, FranceThisWay.com – Briançon, Serre Chevalier ski resort and Wikipedia Briançon (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week Balearic Islands - Minorca

Theme Week Balearic Islands - Minorca

[caption id="attachment_152417" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Grau-Maó © Andrómeda7[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Minorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca. Minorca has a population of approximately 94,383 inhabitants. In October 1993, Minorca was designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. The Balearic Islands were the first legislature to give legal rights to apes. In July 2005, the island's appli...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Chile - Los Ángeles

Theme Week Chile - Los Ángeles

[caption id="attachment_164093" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Ignaciusvilla/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Bío Bío, in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Bio Bío rivers. The population is at 187,000 inhabitants. The municipality ("comuna") of Los Ángeles has the highest absolute rural population of any Chilean municipality. Founded as Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Ang...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Colombia - San Andrés Island

Theme Week Colombia - San Andrés Island

[caption id="attachment_235331" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Leviathan7/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]San Andrés is a coral island in the Caribbean Sea. Politically part of Colombia, and historically tied to the United Kingdom, San Andrés and the nearby islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina form the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. San Andrés, in the southern group of islands, is the largest of Colombia. The official languages of the department are Spanish, English, and San André...

[ read more ]

Lunenburg in Nova Scotia

Lunenburg in Nova Scotia

[caption id="attachment_168593" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Jvienneau/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Lunenburg is a port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on the Fairhaven Peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality. The town was established by the three founding fathers, Patrick Sutherland, Dettlieb Christopher Jessen and John C...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Abu Dhabi - The Emirates Palace Hotel

Theme Week Abu Dhabi - The Emirates Palace Hotel

[caption id="attachment_172248" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Poco a poco[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The building was designed by renowned architect, John Elliott RIBA, who was Senior Vice President at Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo, an international firm specialising in Luxury Hotels. It opened in November 2005 but certain restaurants and spas did not open until 2006. The hotel was built by and is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, and is currently managed by the Kempinski Group. The costs to build the hotel were ...

[ read more ]

Moulins in Auvergne

Moulins in Auvergne

[caption id="attachment_160785" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Moulins and Cathedral © Alphanumeric[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Moulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department. Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin the Anne de Beaujeu Museum. Moulins is located on the banks of the Allier River. Moulins-Montbeugny Airport is a small airport located near Moulins. Before the French Revolution, Moulins was the capital of the province of Bourbonnais and the seat of the Dukes of Bou...

[ read more ]

Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country

Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country

[caption id="attachment_151750" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Plaza Virgen Blanca © Mikelcg/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of Basque Autonomous Community and of the province of Álava in northern Spain. It holds the autonomous community's House of Parliament, headquarters of the Government and Lehendakari's (Prime Minister's) official residency. It is also the largest city in Basque Country with a population of 242,082 people (2014). The dwellers of Vitoria-Gasteiz are called vitor...

[ read more ]

Mediterranean Region

Mediterranean Region

[caption id="attachment_235970" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Monaco © Tobi 87/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin, also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea, is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation. The Mediterranean Basin covers portions of three cont...

[ read more ]

Theme Week United Arab Emirates - Emirate of Umm al-Quwain

Theme Week United Arab Emirates - Emirate of Umm al-Quwain

[caption id="attachment_168459" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Mangroves with the city of Umm al-Quwain © flickr.com - Peter Dowley/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Umm al-Quwain is the least populous of the seven emirates, located in the north of the country. The emirate is ruled by Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla. The emirate had 73,000 inhabitants in 2015 and has an area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi). The UAE culture mainly revolves around the religion of Islam and traditional Arab culture. The influence of Islamic and Arab culture...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Havana - Sloppy Joe's Bar

Theme Week Havana - Sloppy Joe's Bar

[caption id="attachment_168539" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © visitcuba.com[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sloppy Joe's Bar is a historic bar located in Havana, Cuba. The bar reopened in 2013 after being closed for 48 years. Renovation work on Sloppy Joe's was completed in early 2013, and its doors opened to the public on April 12th of that year. The facade closely resembles the images from the 1950s, even down to the sign on the corner, above the arches. The advent of Prohibition in the United States spurred its original owner...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
© Imalipusram
The World Trade Organization (WTO)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January...

Italian Gardens and Tropical House © Axel Mauruszat
Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum

The Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum (German: Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem) is a botanical garden in Berlin,...

View over Montecito © Grandhiking/cc-by-sa-3.0
Montecito in California

Montecito is an census-designated place in Santa Barbara County in California. It is the wealthiest community in the county. Montecito...

Schließen