Barbazan (; oc, Barbasan) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of south-western

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 ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Barbazanais'' or ''Barbazanaises''.

Geography

Barbazan is a

Spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...

in the

Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan/ Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the department of Haute-Garonne. This natural region is nor ...

region located some 13 km south-west of Saint-Gaudens and 12 km north of

Cierp-Gaud Cierp-Gaud is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population Cierp-Gaud château tourelles.jpg, Cierp-Gaud église Cierp (1).jpg, Cierp-Gaud croix mission.jpg, Cierp-Gaud amas rocheux.jpg, Entrée de la Va ...

. The western border of the commune is also the departmental border between Haute-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées. Access to the commune is by

Route nationale A ''route nationale'', or simply ''nationale'', is a class of trunk road in France. They are important roads of national significance which cross broad portions of the French territory, in contrast to departmental or communal roads which serve ...

N125 which comes from the end of the A645 autoroute and passes down the western side of the commune south to Ore. The D26E road comes from

Labroquère Labroquère (; oc, Era Broquèra) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. The troubadour Amanieu de la Broqueira was from here. Population See also Communes of the Haute-Garonne department The following is a ...

in the north-west and passes through the north of the commune ending in the village. The D26 comes from Valcabrère in the west and passes through the village continuing to Sauveterre-de-Comminges in the east. The D33D and the D33L go south from the village to join the N125. The commune has extensive forests in the east with some farmland in the west.Google Maps
/ref> The

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

river forms most of the western border of the commune as it flows north, passing through

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, to eventually join the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...

to form the Gironde estuary at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

. Lake Barbazan, north-west of the village at 452 m above sea level, is of glacial origin. It is surrounded by moraine deposits: sub-glacial moraine from Cumania and rocky outcrops of moraine west of the Lake. The ''Ruisseau de Corp'' flows west from the lake to join the Garonne.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors ; Mayors from 1937

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 490 inhabitants. However, in 2018, the commune had 492 inhabitants.

Sites and monuments

Barbazan has two sites that are registered as historical monuments: *The Chateau of Bagen (1544) *The Flower Garden in the Chateau of Bagen on the D26 roadMinistry of Culture, Mérimée ;Other sites of interest *The Thermal baths *The Lake *The Church of Saint-Michel

Notable people linked to the commune

*Jacques-Marie d'Astorg (1752-1822), Count of Astorg and Roquépine, Baron of Montégut, French soldier in the 18th and 19th centuries.

References

External links

Barbazan official website

Barbazan on the Community of Communes of Haut-Comminges website

Barbazan on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Barbazan'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Haute-Garonne