Editing Barcelonnette

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{distinguish|Barcillonnette}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name               = Barcelonnette
|commune status     = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image              = Barcelonnette-Place Manuel-IMG 1222.JPG
|caption            = Place Manuel
|image coat of arms = Blason Barcelonette 04.svg
|arrondissement     = Barcelonnette
|canton             = Barcelonnette
|INSEE              = 04019
|postal code        = 04400
|mayor              = Yvan Bouguyon<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=12 March 2025|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2024&ndash;2026
|intercommunality   =
|coordinates        = {{coord|44.3867|6.6531|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m        = 1132
|elevation min m    = 1115
|elevation max m    = 2680
|area km2           = 16.42
|population         = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date    = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}

'''Barcelonnette''' ({{IPA|fr|baʁsəlɔnɛt}}; {{langx|oc|Barciloneta de Provença}}, also {{lang|oc|Barcilona}}; obsolete {{langx|it|Barcellonetta}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] of [[France]] and a [[Subprefectures in France|subprefecture]] in the [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]], in the [[Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]] region. It is located in the southern [[French Alps]], at the crossroads between [[Provence]], [[Piedmont]] and the [[Dauphiné]], and is the largest town in the [[Ubaye Valley]]. The town's inhabitants are known as ''Barcelonnettes''.

==Toponymy==
Barcelonnette was founded and named in 1231, by [[Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence|Ramon Berenguer IV]], [[Rulers of Provence|Count of Provence]].<ref name="Dauzat">[[Albert Dauzat]] and [[Charles Rostaing]], ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France'', Éd. Larousse, 1968, pp. 1693–1694.</ref> While the town's name is generally seen as a diminutive form of [[Barcelona]] in [[Catalonia]], [[Albert Dauzat]] and [[Charles Rostaing]] point out an earlier attestation of the name ''Barcilona'' in Barcelonnette in around 1200, and suggest that it is derived instead from two earlier stems{{Specify|reason=language not named|date=March 2023}} signifying a mountain, *''bar'' and *''cin'' (the latter of which is also seen in the name of [[Mont Cenis]]).<ref name="Rostaing">[[Charles Rostaing]], ''Essai sur la toponymie de la Provence depuis les origines jusqu'aux invasions barbares'', Laffite Reprints, Marseille, 1973 (1st edition 1950), p 91</ref><ref name="TGF">Ernest Nègre, ''Toponymie générale de la France : étymologie de 35 000 noms de lieux'', Genève : Librairie Droz, 1990. Collection ''Publications romanes et françaises'', volume CVCIII. Volume III : Formations dialectales (suite) ; formations françaises § 30208 § 30208</ref>

In the [[Vivaro-Alpine]] dialect of [[Occitan language|Occitan]], the town is known as ''Barcilona de Provença'' or more rarely ''Barciloneta'' according to the [[Occitan language#Writing system|classical norm]]; under the [[Occitan language#Writing system|Mistralian norm]] it is called ''Barcilouna de Prouvença'' or ''Barcilouneto''. In ''Valéian'' (the dialect of Occitan spoken in the Ubaye Valley), it is called ''Barcilouna de Prouvença'' or ''Barcilounéta''.<ref name="Arnaud-Maurin">François Arnaud, Gabriel Maurin, ''Le langage de la vallée de Barcelonnette'', Paris : Champion, 1920 – Re-edited in 1973, Marseille: Laffitte Reprints</ref><ref name="Fortoul">Jean-Rémy Fortoul, ''Ubaye, la mémoire de mon pays : les gens, les bêtes, les choses, le temps'', Barcelonnette: Sabença de la Valeia/Mane: Alpes de Lumière, 1995. {{ISBN|2-908103-17-6}}; {{ISBN|2-906162-28-0}}</ref> ''Barcino Nova'' is the town's [[Latin language|Latin]] name meaning "new Barcelona"; ''Barcino'' was the Roman name for Barcelona in Catalonia from its foundation by Emperor [[Augustus]] in 10&nbsp;BC,<ref name="Barcelone">[http://www.bcn.cat/historia/pag/capitols/cap_02/en/capitol_02.htm Chapter 2: Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino, Romans at Mons Taber], Town Hall of Barcelona</ref> and the name was changed to ''Barcelona'' only during the [[Middle Ages]].

The inhabitants of the town are called ''Barcelonnettes'', or ''Vilandroises'' in Valéian.<ref name="Arnaud-Maurin"/>

==History==

===Origins===
The Barcelonnette region was populated by [[Ligures]] from the 1st millennium BC onwards, and the arrival of the [[Celts]] several centuries later led to the formation of a mixed Celto-Ligurian people, the [[Vesubians]]. [[Polybius]] described the Vesubians as belligerent but nonetheless civilised and mercantile, and [[Julius Caesar]] praised their bravery.<ref>''Vallis Montium : Histoire de la vallée de Barcelonnette'', p.12 and p.15</ref><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzsXAAAAYAAJ&dq=%C3%A9subiens&pg=PA31 Recherche sur la géographie ancienne et les antiquités du département des Basses-Alpes]'', p. 30, le col de la Magdeleine étant l'ancien nom du col de Larche, ''Colle della Maddalena'' in Italian.</ref><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=AncBAAAAQAAJ&dq=%C3%89subiens&pg=PA115 Dictionnaire historique et topographique de la Provence ancienne et moderne]'', page 115</ref> The work ''History of the Gauls'' also places the Vesubians in the Ubaye Valley.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=M8oWAAAAQAAJ&dq=ubaye&pg=RA2-PA218 Histoire des Gaules, et des conquêtes des Gaulois depuis leur origine jusqu'à la fondation de la Monarchie française]'', 1754</ref>

Following the [[History of Provence#The Roman Conquest of Provence|Roman conquest of Provence]], Barcelonnette was included in a small province with modern [[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Embrun]] as its capital and governed by Albanus Bassalus. This was integrated soon afterwards into [[Gallia Narbonensis]].<ref>''Vallis Montium : Histoire de la vallée de Barcelonnette'', p.16</ref> In 36 AD, Emperor [[Tiberius]] transferred Barcelonnette to the province of the [[Cottian Alps]]. The town was known as ''Rigomagensium'' under the [[Roman Empire]] and was the capital of a civitas (a provincial subdivision),<ref name="Collier15" >Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', Digne, Imprimerie Louis Jean, 1986, p. 15</ref> though no Roman money has yet been found in the canton of Barcelonnette.<ref name="Collier37" >Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', p. 37</ref>

===Medieval town===
The town of Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 by [[Ramon Berenguer IV of Provence|Ramon Berenguer IV]], [[Rulers of Provence|Count of Provence]]. According to Charles Rostaing, this act of formal "foundation", according certain privileges to the town, was a means of regenerating the destroyed town of ''Barcilona''.<ref name="Rostaing"/> The town was afforded a ''consulat'' (giving it the power to administer and defend itself) in 1240.<ref name="AHP">Under the direction of Édouard Baratier, Georges Duby, and Ernest Hildesheimer, ''Atlas historique. Provence, Comtat Venaissin, principauté d'Orange, comté de Nice, principauté de Monaco'', Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1969, p. 163</ref>

Control of the area in the [[Middle Ages]] swung between the [[Counts of Savoy]] and [[Rulers of Provence|of Provence]]. In 1388, after Count [[Louis II of Anjou|Louis II]] of Provence had left to conquer [[Naples]], the Count of Savoy [[Amadeus VIII of Savoy|Amadeus VIII]] took control of Barcelonnette; however, it returned to Provençal control in 1390, with the d'Audiffret family as its lords. On the death of Louis II in 1417 it reverted to Savoy, and, although Count [[René of Anjou|René]] again retook the area for Provence in 1471, it had returned to Savoyard dominance by the start of the 16th century, by which point the County of Provence had become united with the Kingdom of France due to the death of Count [[Charles IV, Duke of Anjou|Charles V]] in 1481.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7DQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA674 Google Books: Aristide Mathieu Guilbert, ''Histoire des Villes de France''. First book, pp. 674-676, Paris, 1844]</ref>

===Ancien Régime===
During [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]'s invasion of Provence in 1536, [[Francis I of France]] sent the [[Count of Fürstenberg]]'s 6000 ''[[Landsknechte]]'' to ravage the area in a [[scorched earth]] policy. Barcelonnette and the Ubaye Valley remained under French sovereignty until the second [[Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis]] on 3 April 1559.

In 1588 the troops of [[François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières|François, Duke of Lesdiguières]] entered the town and set fire to the church and convent during their campaign against the Duke of Savoy. In 1600, after the [[Treaty of Vervins]], conflict returned between [[Henry IV of France]] and Savoy, and Lesdiguières retook Barcelonnette until the conclusion of the [[Treaty of Lyon (1601)|Treaty of Lyon]] on 17 January the following year. In 1628, during the [[War of the Mantuan Succession]], Barcelonnette and the other towns of the Ubaye Valley were pillaged and burned by Jacques du Blé d'Uxelles and his troops, as they passed through towards Italy to the [[Duke of Mantua]]'s aid. The town was retaken by the Duke of Savoy in 1630; and in 1691 it was captured by the troops of the Marquis de Vins during the [[War of the League of Augsburg]].

Between 1614 and 1713, Barcelonnette was the seat of one of the four prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Senate of Nice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jc.clariond.free.fr/dixneuf.html#19p4|title=HISTOIRE d'ALLOS TROISIEME PARTIE CHAPITRE V (19) de 1598–1628|website=jc.clariond.free.fr|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> At this time, the community of Barcelonnette successfully purchased the ''[[seigneurie]]'' of the town as it was put to auction by the Duke of Savoy; it thereby gained its own justicial powers.<ref name="Rébellion">Jean Nicolas, ''La Rébellion française : mouvements populaires et conscience sociale, 1661–1789'', Paris: Gallimard, 2008. Collection ''Folio'', {{ISBN|978-2-07-035971-4}}, p. 311</ref> In 1646, a college was founded in Barcelonnette.<ref name="histo_sous-pref">Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, "[http://www.alpes-de-haute-provence.pref.gouv.fr/pages/sous-prefectures/barcelonnette/barcelonnette.html Histoire de l'Arrondissement de Barcelonnette] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218073152/http://www.alpes-de-haute-provence.pref.gouv.fr/pages/sous-prefectures/barcelonnette/barcelonnette.html |date=December 18, 2012 }}", ''Préfecture des Alpes de Haute-Provence'', accessed 23 June 2012</ref>

A "significant" part of the town's inhabitants had, by the 16th century, converted to [[Protestantism]], and were repressed during the [[French Wars of Religion]].<ref>Gabriel Audisio and Jean Jalla, ''Les protestants de la vallée de Barcelonnette'', expanded and updated edition from the brochure ''Les Vaudois à Barcelonnette''</ref>

The ''[[viguerie]]'' of Barcelonnette (also comprising [[Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes|Saint-Martin]] and [[Entraunes]]) was reattached to France in 1713 as part of a territorial exchange with the Duchy of Savoy during the [[Treaties of Utrecht]]. The town remained the site of a ''viguerie'' until the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="viguerie">''La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes'', Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p 107</ref> A decree of the council of state on 25 December 1714 reunited Barcelonnete with the general government of Provence.

===Revolution===
Barcelonnette was one of few settlements in Haute-Provence to acquire a [[Masonic Lodge]] before the Revolution, in fact having two:
* the lodge of ''Saint-Jean-d'Écosse des amis réunis'', affiliated with the ''Saint-Jean-d'Écosse'' lodge in [[Marseille]];
* the lodge of ''Saint-Jean'', affiliated with the ''Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem d'Avignon'' lodge founded in 1749.<ref name="AHP-c120">[[Robert-Henri Bautier]], "Les loges maçonniques (seconde moitié du XVIII<sup>e</sup> siècle)", maps 120 and 121 and commentary ''in'' Baratier, Duby & Hildesheimer, ''Atlas historique''</ref><ref name="Alphand">Patrice Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", ''La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes'', Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p. 292</ref>

In March 1789, riots took place as a result of a crisis in wheat production.<ref name="Révolution11">''La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes'', Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no 307, 1st term 1989, 108th year, p. 11</ref> In July, the [[Great Fear]] of aristocratic reprisal against the ongoing [[French Revolution]] struck France, arriving in the Barcelonnette area on 31 July 1789 (when the news of the [[storming of the Bastille]] first reached the town) before spreading towards [[Digne]].<ref name="AHP-c154">[[Michel Vovelle]], "Les troubles de Provence en 1789", map 154 and commentary, ''in'' Baratier, Duby & Hildesheimer, ''Atlas historique''</ref>

This agitation continued in the Ubaye Valley; a new revolt broke out on 14 June,<ref name="Révolution15">Annales de Haute-Provence, p. 15</ref> and famine was declared in April 1792. The patriotic society of the commune was one of the first 21 created in [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]], in spring 1792, by the envoys of the departmental administration.<ref name="Alphand296">Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", pp. 296–301</ref> Around a third of the male population attended at the club.<ref name="Alphand320">Alphand, "Les Sociétés populaires", p. 320</ref> Another episode of political violence occurred in August 1792.

Barcelonnette was the seat of the District of Barcelonnette from 1790 to 1800.

===Modern history===
[[File:Barcelonnette-Villas mexicaines-IMG 1240.JPG|thumb|left|A ''maison mexicaine'' in Barcelonnette]]
In December 1851, the town was home to a movement of republican resistance towards [[Napoleon III]]'s [[French coup of 1851|coup]]. Though only a minority of the population, the movement rebelled on Sunday 7 December, the day after the news of the coup arrived. Town officials and gendarmes were disarmed and placed in the [[maison d'arrêt]]. A committee of public health was created on 8 December; on 9 December the inhabitants of [[Jausiers]] and its surroundings formed a colony under the direction of general councillor Brès, and Mayor Signoret of [[Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye]]. This was stopped, however, on 10 December before it could reach Barcelonnette, as the priest of the subprefecture had intervened. On 11 December, several officials escaped and found refuge in [[Maddalena Pass|L'Argentière]] in Piedmont. The arrival of troops on 16 December put a final end to the republican resistance without bloodshed, and 57 insurgents were tried; 38 were condemned to deportation (though several were pardoned in April).

Between 1850 and 1950, Barcelonnette was the source of a wave of [[French immigration to Mexico|emigration to Mexico]]. Among these emigrants was Jean Baptiste Ebrard, founder of the [[Liverpool (store)|Liverpool]] department store chain in Mexico. On the edges of Barcelonnette and Jausiers there are several houses and villas of colonial style (known as ''maisons mexicaines''), constructed by emigrants to Mexico who returned to France between 1870 and 1930. A plaque in the town commemorates the deaths of ten Mexican citizens who returned to Barcelonnette to fight in the [[First World War]].

During the [[Second World War]], 26 Jews were arrested in Barcelonnette before being deported.<ref name="ajpn">AJPN, "[http://www.ajpn.org/departement-Alpes-de-Haute-Provence-4.html Département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence en 1939-1945]", ''Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période nazie dans les communes de France'', accessed 25 May 2012</ref> The 89th ''compagnie de travailleurs étrangers'' (Company of Foreign Workers), consisting of foreigners judged as undesirable by the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] and the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] and committed to forced labour, was established in Barcelonnette.<ref name="ajpn-cte">AJPN, "[http://www.ajpn.org/internement-89e-CTE-574.html 89e CTE]", ''Anonymes, Justes et Persécutés durant la période nazie dans les communes de France'', accessed 27 May 2012</ref><ref name="réfugiés">Josette Lesueur, Gérard Lesueur, ''Les travailleurs espagnols en Ubaye, 1939–1940'', Barcelonnette, Sabença de la Valeia, 2010, collection "Cahiers de la Vallée", {{ISBN|2-908103-54-0}}, p. 11</ref>

The 11th Battalion of ''[[Chasseurs alpins]]'' was garrisoned at Barcelonnette between 1948 and 1990.<ref name="11eBCA">Conseil général des AHP, "Un second souffle pour l'Ubaye?", ''Le Magazine du conseil général'', no. 70 June 2009, p. 6</ref>

==Geography==
Barcelonnette is situated in the wide and fertile [[Ubaye Valley]], of which it is the largest town. It lies at an elevation of 1132&nbsp;m (3717&nbsp;ft) on the right bank of the [[Ubaye]] River, and is surrounded by mountains which reach peaks of over 3000&nbsp;m;<ref name="La vallée de Barcelonnette">Jacques Levainville, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/geo_0003-4010_1907_num_16_87_6924 "La vallée de Barcelonnette"] In: ''[[Annales de Géographie]]''. 1907, t. 16, n°87. pp. 223–244. {{doi|10.3406/geo.1907.6924}}</ref> the tallest of these is the Needle of Chambeyron at 3412&nbsp;m. Barcelonnette is situated 210&nbsp;km from [[Turin]], 91&nbsp;km from [[Nice]] and 68&nbsp;km from [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]].<ref>Votre entreprise à Barcelonnette, Les distances, ''barcelonnette.com''</ref>

===Biodiversity===
As a result of its relief and geographic situation, the Ubaye Valley has an "abundance of plant and animal species".<ref name="Au cœur des Alpes « sèches »">[http://www.mercantour.eu/index.php/Vallee-de-l-Ubaye.html « Au cœur des Alpes « sèches »] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810055512/http://www.mercantour.eu/index.php/Vallee-de-l-Ubaye.html |date=2011-08-10 }}, ''www.mercantour.eu''</ref> The fauna is largely constituted of golden eagles, marmots, [[Alpine ibex|ibex]] and vultures, and the flora includes a large proportion of [[larches]], [[Artemisia (genus)|génépis]] and [[Asphodelus ramosus|white asphodels]].<ref name="Au cœur des Alpes « sèches »"/>

===Climate===
[[File:Barcelonnette-hiver.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Barcelonnette in winter]]
The [[Ubaye Valley]] has an [[alpine climate]] and winters are harsh as a result of the altitude,<ref>[http://www.laprovence.com/article/alpes-de-haute-provence « Alpes-de-Haute-Provence »],'' www.laprovence.com'', 19 juin 2007.</ref> but there are only light winds as a result of the relief.<ref name="Au cœur des Alpes « sèches »"/> There are on average almost 300 days of sun and 700&nbsp;mm of rain per year.<ref name="Au cœur des Alpes « sèches »"/>

{{Weather box
|location = Barcelonnette, 1155m (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1927−present)
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
|Jan record high C = 17.6
|Feb record high C = 20.5
|Mar record high C = 24.0
|Apr record high C = 27.7
|May record high C = 30.5
|Jun record high C = 36.7
|Jul record high C = 34.9
|Aug record high C = 35.7
|Sep record high C = 32.1
|Oct record high C = 28.3
|Nov record high C = 21.4
|Dec record high C = 17.1
|year record high C =

|Jan high C = 6.2
|Feb high C = 8.0
|Mar high C = 12.3
|Apr high C = 15.1
|May high C = 19.3
|Jun high C = 23.7
|Jul high C = 26.3
|Aug high C = 26.1
|Sep high C = 21.4
|Oct high C = 16.5
|Nov high C = 10.2
|Dec high C = 6.3
|year high C =

|Jan mean C = -0.8
|Feb mean C = 0.4
|Mar mean C = 4.3
|Apr mean C = 7.4
|May mean C = 11.4
|Jun mean C = 15.1
|Jul mean C = 17.4
|Aug mean C = 17.1
|Sep mean C = 13.1
|Oct mean C = 9.0
|Nov mean C = 3.7
|Dec mean C = -0.2
|year mean C =

|Jan low C = -7.9
|Feb low C = -7.3
|Mar low C = -3.6
|Apr low C = -0.3
|May low C = 3.4
|Jun low C = 6.5
|Jul low C = 8.4
|Aug low C = 8.0
|Sep low C = 4.9
|Oct low C = 1.4
|Nov low C = -2.9
|Dec low C = -6.7
|year low C =

|Jan record low C = -24.8
|Feb record low C = -25.0
|Mar record low C = -20.0
|Apr record low C = -11.4
|May record low C = -7.4
|Jun record low C = -4.1
|Jul record low C = -0.1
|Aug record low C = -2.5
|Sep record low C = -5.4
|Oct record low C = -13.0
|Nov record low C = -18.5
|Dec record low C = -23.6
|year record low C =

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 43.6
|Feb precipitation mm = 33.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 41.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 59.5
|May precipitation mm = 64.1
|Jun precipitation mm = 57.2
|Jul precipitation mm = 49.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 49.2
|Sep precipitation mm = 63.7
|Oct precipitation mm = 84.5
|Nov precipitation mm = 88.3
|Dec precipitation mm = 59.9
|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 5.5
|Feb precipitation days = 4.5
|Mar precipitation days = 5.2
|Apr precipitation days = 7.6
|May precipitation days = 9.5
|Jun precipitation days = 8.5
|Jul precipitation days = 6.9
|Aug precipitation days = 6.7
|Sep precipitation days = 6.3
|Oct precipitation days = 7.7
|Nov precipitation days = 7.6
|Dec precipitation days = 6.4
|year precipitation days = 

|source 1 = [[Météo-France]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_04019001.pdf
| title=Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records
| language = fr
| publisher = [[Météo-France]]
|access-date = 24 September 2024}}</ref>}}

===Hazards===
None of the 200 communes of the department is entirely free of seismic risk; the [[canton of Barcelonnette]] is placed in zone 1b (low risk) by the determinist classification of 1991 based on seismic history,<ref name="ddrm39">Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''[http://www.alpes-de-haute-provence.pref.gouv.fr/pages/themes/defense/securite%20civile/index.html#menu1 Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922124859/http://www.alpes-de-haute-provence.pref.gouv.fr/pages/themes/defense/securite%20civile/index.html#menu1 |date=September 22, 2012 }}'' (DDRM), 2008, p. 39</ref> and zone 4 (average risk) according to the probabilistic EC8 classification of 2011.<ref name="prim">Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, transport and housing, [http://macommune.prim.net/d_commune.php?insee=04019 Notice communale] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723110254/http://macommune.prim.net/d_commune.php?insee=04019 |date=2014-07-23 }} on the Gaspar database, uploaded 8 July 2011, accessed 30 June 2012</ref> The commune is also vulnerable to avalanches, forest fires, floods, and landslides.<ref name="prim"/> Barcelonnette is also exposed to the possibility of a technological hazard in that road transport of dangerous materials is allowed to pass through on the RD900.<ref name="ppr">Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs'', p. 95</ref><ref name="ddrm80">Prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''Dossier départemental sur les risques majeurs'', p. 80</ref>

The town has been subject to several orders of natural disaster: floods and mudslides in 1994 and 2008, and landslides in 1996 and 1999. The strongest recorded earthquakes in the region occurred on 5&nbsp;April&nbsp;1959, with its epicentre at [[Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye]] and a recorded intensity of 6.5 at Barcelonnette, and on 17&nbsp;February&nbsp;1947, with its epicentre at [[Prazzo]] over the Italian border.<ref name="brgm">[[BRGM]], "[http://www.sisfrance.net/Commune/liste.asp?LOCAL=false&ORDRE=false&INSEE=04019&XMIN=923496&XMAX=963496&YMIN=1919917&YMAX=1959917 Epicentres of distant tremors (greater than 40 km) felt in Barcelonnette] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131042642/http://www.sisfrance.net/Commune/liste.asp?LOCAL=false&ORDRE=false&INSEE=04019&XMIN=923496&XMAX=963496&YMIN=1919917&YMAX=1959917 |date=January 31, 2015 }}", ''Sisfrance'', accessed 30 June 2012</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Mai 70 drapeau chasseurs 0001.jpg|thumb|''[[Chasseurs alpins]]'' in front of the Barcelonnette town hall in May 1970]]
* The town hall was constructed in the 1930s after the destruction of the Saint Maurice chapel in July 1934.<ref name="Collier212">Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', p. 212</ref> Its pediment was originally from the old Dominican convent and was identified in 1988.<ref name="Palissy759">Arrêté du 30 décembre 1988, {{Palissy|PM04000759}}, accessed 25 October 2008</ref> No houses in the town date from before the 17th century, the town having been rebuilt after the fire of 1628. The old hospital in the town dates from 1717.<ref name="Collier434">Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', p. 434</ref>
* The old [[gendarmerie]] on Place Manuel was originally constructed to house the subprefecture in 1825 in a [[neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] style, and its façade occupies one entire side of the square. Place Manuel was named after the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Restoration]] politician [[Jacques-Antoine Manuel]]; the fountain in the centre of the square contains his image sculpted by [[David d'Angers]].<ref name="Collier533">Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', p. 533</ref>
* The parish church was originally built in the Middle Ages, but was destroyed in the fire of 1628. It was quickly reconstructed between 1634 and 1638, and further between 1643 and 1644. This was later demolished in 1926–27 to allow the construction of the current church, though this still contains the steeple from the 17th-century reconstruction.<ref name="Collier193">Raymond Collier, ''La Haute-Provence monumentale et artistique'', pp. 193 and 392-393</ref>
* The Cardinalis tower was constructed in the 14th century as a bell tower for the [[Dominican order|Dominican]] convent, which was founded on the bequest of [[Hugh of Saint-Cher]]. It was damaged in the wars of the 17th century and was rebuilt, though parts still exist from the original construction. It is classed as a [[monument historique]] of France.

The subprefecture has been situated since 1978 in a ''maison mexicaine'', the Villa l'Ubayette, constructed between 1901 and 1903.

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|align=left
|1968 |2476
|1975 |2636
|1982 |2735
|1990 |2976
|1999 |2815
|2007 |2766
|2012 |2634
|2017 |2598
| source= INSEE<ref name=popinsee>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-04019#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
| percentages = pagr
}}

In 1471, the community of Barcelonnette (including several surrounding parishes) comprised 421 fires (households). In 1765, it had 6,674 inhabitants,<ref name="AHP"/> but emigration, particularly to Mexico, slowed the town's growth in the period before the [[Second World War]]. According to the census of 2017, Barcelonnette has a population of 2,598 (municipal population)<ref name=popinsee/> across a total area of 16.42&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{Cassini-Ehess|2645|Barcelonnette}}</ref> The town is characterised by low population density. Between 1990 and 1999 the town's annual mean population growth was -0.6%,<ref name=popinsee/> though between 1999 and 2007 this increased to an average of -0.2%.<ref name=popinsee/>

==Economy==
The city is mainly a tourist and resort centre, serving many [[ski]] lodges. The [[Pra-Loup]] resort is 7&nbsp;km from Barcelonnette; Le Sauze is 5&nbsp;km away. It and the Ubaye Valley are served by the [[Barcelonnette – Saint-Pons Airfield]]. Notably, Barcelonnette is the only subprefecture of France not served by rail transport; the Ubaye line which would have linked [[Chorges]] to Barcelonnette was never completed as a result of the First World War and the construction of the [[Lac de Serre-Ponçon|Serre-Ponçon Dam]] between 1955 and 1961.

==Education==
An ''[[Normal school|école normale]]'' (an institute for training primary school teachers) was founded in Barcelonnette in 1833, and remained there until 1888 when it was transferred to Digne.<ref name="Ecoles République">Th. L., "École primaire", ''in'' Renaud Alberny, Denis-Armand Canal, Thomas Laurenceau, Dominique Voisin, ''Les Écoles de la République'', Niort : Eclectis, 1993. {{ISBN|2-908975-15-7}}, p. 17</ref> The ''{{ill|lycée André-Honnorat de Barcelonnette|fr|Lycée André-Honnorat de Barcelonnette}}'', originally the ''collège Saint-Maurice'' and renamed after the politician [[André Honnorat]] in 1919, is located in the town; [[Pierre-Gilles de Gennes]] and [[Carole Merle]] both studied there.<ref name="Ecoles République19">Renaud Alberny ''et al.'', "École primaire", p. 19</ref><ref name="lyceegen">Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''[http://ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_67638/lycees-publics Liste des lycées publics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221181940/http://ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_67638/lycees-publics |date=2014-02-21 }}'', published 6 April 2010, Accessed 31 October 2010</ref> Currently, three schools exist in Barcelonnette: a public nursery school, a public elementary school, and a private school (under a contract by which the teachers are paid by the national education system).<ref name="ecole">Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''[http://ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_72040/liste-des-ecoles-de-la-circonscription-de-sisteron-sud Liste des écoles de la circonscription de Sisteron-Sud] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715040708/http://www.ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_72040/liste-des-ecoles-de-la-circonscription-de-sisteron-sud |date=2010-07-15 }}'', published 27 April 2010, accessed 31 October 2010</ref>

In 2010 the ''lycée André-Honnorat'' opened a boarding school aimed at gifted students of poorer social backgrounds, in order to give them better conditions in which to study.<ref name="internat">Académie d'Aix-Marseille, ''[http://www.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_94319/installation-des-46-premiers-internes-dans-le-premier-internat-dexcellence-de-lacademie-a-barcelonnette Installation des 46 premiers internes dans le premier internat d'excellence de l'Académie à Barcelonnette] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927214046/http://www.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_94319/installation-des-46-premiers-internes-dans-le-premier-internat-dexcellence-de-lacademie-a-barcelonnette |date=2010-09-27 }}'', published 3 September 2010, accessed 21 September 2010</ref><ref name="college">Academic inspection of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, ''[http://ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_67641/colleges-publics Liste des collèges publics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720203332/http://ia04.ac-aix-marseille.fr/wacam/jcms/c_67641/colleges-publics |date=2011-07-20 }}'', published 6 April 2010, accessed 31 October 2010</ref> It is located in the ''Quartier Craplet'', formerly the garrison of the 11th Battalion of ''[[Chasseurs Alpins]]'' and then the [[French Army]]'s ''Centre d'instruction et d'entraînement au combat en montagne'' (CIECM).

==Transportation==
[[Barcelonnette – Saint-Pons Airfield]] ([[IATA]]: BAE, [[ICAO]] LFMR) is located at [[Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence|Saint Pons]], 3&nbsp;km (2 miles) west of Barcelonnette.

==International links==
Barcelonnette is twinned with:
* {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Valle de Bravo]], Mexico
It is also the site of a Mexican [[Consul (representative)#Honorary consul|honorary consulate]].<ref>[http://portal.sre.gob.mx/frances/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=78&op=page&SubMenu= Ambassade du Mexique en France : Présence du Mexique en France] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314151839/http://portal.sre.gob.mx/frances/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=78&op=page&SubMenu= |date=14 March 2012 }}</ref>

==Notable residents==
*[[Jacques-Antoine Manuel]] (1775–1827), lawyer, politician and orator.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Manuel, Jacques Antoine |volume= 17 | page = 609 |short= 1}}</ref>
*[[Paul Reynaud]] (1878–1966), liberal politician and lawyer
*[[Pierre-Gilles de Gennes]] (1932–2007), physicist and winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1991
*[[Daniel Spagnou]] (born 1940), [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]] politician
*[[Bruno Dary]] (born 1952), general and [[military governor of Paris]]
*[[Pierre Bottero]] (1964–2009), a French writer.
{{clear left}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Barcelonnette | volume= 3 |last= Coolidge |first= William Augustus Brevoort |author-link= W. A. B. Coolidge| page = 393 |short= 1}}
* [http://www.barcelonnette.com/ Tourism website] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Alpes-de-Haute-Provence communes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:People from Barcelonnette]]