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Embrun (; oc, Ambrun , la, Ebrodunum, , and ) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
in southeastern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.


Description

It is located between Gap and Briançon and at the eastern end of one of the largest artificial lakes in Western
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
: the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. The Canadian town of Embrun, Ontario was named after Embrun in 1856.


History

Embrun was formerly known as Ebrodunum ( in
Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), souther ...
sources). There is some variation in the writing of the first part of the name. It is Epebrodunum in
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
's text, but later translators corrected it. Strabo (iv.) says that from Tarasco to the borders of the
Vocontii The Vocontii (Gaulish: *''Uocontioi''; Greek: Οὐοκόντιοι, Οὐοκοντίων) were a Gallic people dwelling on the western foothills of the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period. The Vocontii settled in the region in the 3 ...
and the beginning of the ascent of the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, through the Druentia and Caballio, is 63 miles; and from thence to the other boundaries of the Vocontii, to the kingdom of
Cottius Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the Celtic and Ligurian inhabitants of the mountainous Roman province then known as '' Alpes Taurinae'' and now as the Cottian Alps early in the 1st century BC. Son and successor to King Donnus, he negotiated a ...
(the
Alpes Cottiae The Alpes Cottiae (; English: 'Cottian Alps') were a small province of the Roman Empire founded in 63 AD by Emperor Nero. It was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Graiae et Poen ...
), to the village of Ebrodunum, 99 miles. Ebrodunum was in the ''civitas'' (tribal state) of the Caturiges, and just on the borders of the Vocontii, as it appears. The position of Ebrodunum is easily determined by the itineraries and the name.
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
(iii. 1) mentions Eborodunum as the city of the Caturiges, and no other. In the
Jerusalem Itinerary The ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'' ("Bordeaux Itinerary"), also known as the ''Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum'' ("Jerusalem Itinerary"), is the oldest known Christian ''itinerarium''. It was written by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux", an anonymous pilgrim ...
Ebrodunum is called ''Mansio'', like Caturiges (modern
Chorges Chorges (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Chorge'') is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is close to Gap. The name ''Chorges'' derives from Latin ''Catorimagus'', itself coming from the Alpine tribe of the Caturiges in th ...
), which was also in the territory of the Caturiges. There are Roman remains at Chorges, and none are mentioned at Embrun, though it appears that the cathedral of Embrun is built on the site of a Roman temple, or that some of the materials of a temple were used for it. Ebrodunum was, for a time, the capital of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of '' Alpes Maritimae''. In the feudal age, it was an important archbishopric see. The town was sacked in 1585 by
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster B ...
and in 1692 by the duke of Savoy during the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...
. In stage 17 of the
2013 Tour de France The 2013 Tour de France was the 100th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on the island of Corsica on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 21 July. The Tour consisted of twenty-one stages ...
, Embrun was the starting point for an
individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...
. In 2017, stage 19 of the Tour de France started at Embrun.


Ecclesiastical history

Embrun was the see of a bishopric since the fourth century, which became a Metropolitan archbishopric in the fourteenth century and was suppressed in the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
.


Population


Climate

Embrun features an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(''Cfb'') with strong continental influences (''Dfb''). Winters are rather cold and snowy. Winter nights are very cold (about ) compare to the other French cities. That's because Embrun is very far from the French coasts, and near the mountains. It creates a severe climate throughout the year. In spite of the cold winters, summers tend to be hot and hazy. The afternoon average temperatures are around , but can sometimes exceed .


Notable people

* Henri Arnaud (1643 in Embrun – 1721) a pastor of the
Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
in Piedmont, who turned soldier. *
François Jullien François Jullien (born 2 June 1951 in Embrun, France) is a French philosopher, Hellenist, and sinologist. Biography An alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure (Paris) and holder (since 1974) of the ''agrégation'', France's professorial d ...
(born 1951 in Embrun) a French philosopher, Hellenist and
sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
. *
Coraline Hugue Coraline Hugue (born 11 March 1984), also known as Coraline Thomas Hugue, is a French former cross-country skier. She competed for France at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, in skiathlon Competitive cross-country skiing encompasses a ...
(born 1984 in Embrun), former Olympic cross-country skier.


See also

* Embrun Cathedral *
Écrins National Park Écrins National Park (french: parc national des Écrins, ; oc, parc Nacional dels Escrinhs) is a French national park located in the southeastern part of France in the Dauphiné Alps south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the d ...
*
Communes of the Hautes-Alpes department The following is a list of the 162 communes of the Hautes-Alpes department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):INSEE

Embrun Office of Tourism
(in French). {{authority control Communes of Hautes-Alpes Caturiges Dauphiné Vauban fortifications in France