Villelongue
Encyclopedia
Villelongue is a commune
in the Hautes-Pyrénées
department in south-western France
.
Villelongue is situated on the flank of the Hautacam
mountain, around a stream called the Ruisseau d'Isaby, and descends to the Gave de Gavarnie torrent.
It consists of a main village with a smaller hamlet above called Ortiac. Ortiac boasts a charming medieval chapel. The woods above Ortiac conceal the Abbey of Saint-Orens, now in ruins.
Villelongue has considerably expanded in recent years, as new tracts are open to development and as the road infrastructure have developed to allow inhabitants to commute to Lourdes
and Tarbes
.
Villelongue is unusual among local towns in having a latinate name, rather than a name deriving from Bigourdan (the local dialect of the Occitan language). The name is said to derive from of a Latin villa (i.e. a large farm) dating from late antiquity, situated in the lower part of the modern village, in an area known as "Las Longas".
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 Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...
department in south-western 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...
.
Villelongue is situated on the flank of the Hautacam
Hautacam
Hautacam is a ski resort in the Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Midi-Pyrénées region. The winter sports station lies at a height of 1560 meters...
mountain, around a stream called the Ruisseau d'Isaby, and descends to the Gave de Gavarnie torrent.
It consists of a main village with a smaller hamlet above called Ortiac. Ortiac boasts a charming medieval chapel. The woods above Ortiac conceal the Abbey of Saint-Orens, now in ruins.
Villelongue has considerably expanded in recent years, as new tracts are open to development and as the road infrastructure have developed to allow inhabitants to commute to Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
and Tarbes
Tarbes
Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....
.
Villelongue is unusual among local towns in having a latinate name, rather than a name deriving from Bigourdan (the local dialect of the Occitan language). The name is said to derive from of a Latin villa (i.e. a large farm) dating from late antiquity, situated in the lower part of the modern village, in an area known as "Las Longas".