Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
Hautacam
Hautacam is a ski resort in the French Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Occitania region. In road bicycle racing, the ascent to Hautacam is known as a difficult climb, which is used occasionally in the Tour d ...
mountain, around a stream called the Ruisseau d'Isaby, and descends to the
Gave de Gavarnie
GAVE may refer to:
* Gave (Melgaço), a parish in Portugal
* Gave (placename element), a French word meaning ''torrential river'' in the west Pyrenees
* Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE), a medical condition
* Gabinete de Avaliação Educacio ...
torrent.
It consists of a main village with a smaller hamlet above called Ortiac. Ortiac has a 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 (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...
and
Tarbes
Tarbes (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of southwestern France. It is ...
.
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
Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...
). The name is said to derive from 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".
See also
*
Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes o ...