Colmars or Colmars-les-Alpes (Còumars in provençal) is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a French department in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence.- History :Nord-de-Provence was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 department in southeastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

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The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars", but it is always referred locally as "Colmars-les-Alpes", even though it is not recognised in legal situations. The signs on entering the village read "Colmars-les-Alpes".

Geography

The village is situated at the conflence of the Verdon and Lance rivers, at an altitude of 1250 metres. The site of the village is a site inscrit, a site of special natural, scientific or historical interest.

Population

The inhabitants are called Colmarsiens.

Mountains and peaks

There are numerous high points in the commune. The main ones are:

• Tête de l'Encombrette (2682m)
• Autapie (2426m)
• Roche Cline
• Valpane

History

The name of the village comes from a hill dedicated to Mars by the Romans ("Collo Marto"). The village was originally situated further up a hill, but the site was judged to be too cramped and not possible to expand any further, so it was abandoned. It was destroyed by Raymond de Turenne in 1390.

Modern era

In the French Wars of Religion, the site was the target of several attacks:

• Paulon de Mauvans, a Protestant captain, pillaged the village in 1560;
• Cartier, a captain operating on behalf on de Mauvans, took and ransommed the village in 1583;
• The French Catholic League sacked the village a few years later.

See also

• Verdon River
  Verdon River
  The Verdon is a 166 km long river in south-eastern France, left tributary of the Durance. Its source is at an altitude of 2819 m, in the south-western Alps , between the col d'Allos and the Trois Eveches mountain, south of Barcelonnette...
  
  
• Col d'Allos
  Col d'Allos
  Col d'Allos 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 and goes on to the Col des Champs....
  
  
• Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department

External links

• Webpage about the fortifications