^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2
Haute-Loire (French pronunciation:[otlwaʁ]ⓘ;Occitan:Naut Léger orNaut Leir; English:Upper Loire) is a landlockeddepartment in theAuvergne-Rhône-Alpesregion of south-central France. Named after theLoire River, it is surrounded by the departments ofLoire,Ardèche,Lozère,Cantal andPuy-de-Dôme. In 2019, it had a population of 227,570;[3] its inhabitants are calledAltiligériens in French (English : Altiligerians).
The department, which has itsprefecture inLe Puy-en-Velay, covers the upper reaches of the Loire and consists of the Loire Valley and the surrounding mountains in theMassif Central. It is one of the original 83 departments of France created in 1790 during the French Revolution. Parts of the department are included in theLivradois-Forez Regional Natural Park.
The first known inhabitants of this region were hunter-gatherers and it was later occupied by pastoralists, shepherds living in caves or simple huts. It later came under the control of a Gaulish tribe calledVellavi and at the time ofJulius Caesar'sGallic Wars, this area lay on the border ofGallia Narbonensis. The area became aRoman province in 121 BC,[4] originally under the nameGallia Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul). The name distinguished it fromCisalpine Gaul on the near side of the Alps to Rome. In 40 BC, during theSecond Triumvirate,Lepidus was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), whileMark Antony was given the balance of Gaul.[5]
The area was ravaged by barbarian invasions in the last years of the Roman Empire, andGalla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into theVisigothic Kingdom between 462 and 477 AD, permanently ending the political control of Rome. After the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were generally known asSeptimania. The king of the Visigoths,Alaric I was killed at theBattle of Vouillé in 507, a battle won byClovis I and Velay came under Frankish rule. On Clovis' death in 511, his kingdom was divided among his four sons, and Velay was included in the part of the king ofAustrasia, then part of the French kingdom. These subdivisions were united under the auspices of his longest surviving sonChlothar I, only to be split again under his four sons at his death. It was reunited once more underChlothar II who became the sole ruler of the Frankish people in 613.[6]
In about 928, the area became a fiefdom of theCount of Toulouse, and later came under the control of theCount of Poitiers. In 1137,Eleanor of Aquitaine succeeded to theDuchy of Aquitaine and her marriage to Henry, Duke of Normandy, who later becameHenry II of England, brought Auvergne under English rule. By the end of the thirteenth century the area was known as the Dauphiné d’Auvergne.[7]
Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during theFrench Revolution on 4 March 1790, by order of theNational Constituent Assembly. The new departments were to be uniformly administered and approximately equal to one another in size and population. Haute-Loire was formed from parts of the former provinces ofAuvergne,Languedoc, andLyonnais.[8] Two thirds of the department, centred onLe Puy-en-Velay, used to be part of the former province of Languedoc and is known as Velay. The geographical distance fromToulouse had allowed this region to enjoy a great deal of autonomy.
During the Second World War,French partisans aided by Allied supply drops and leaders were able to liberate the province from Germans. By mid-August 1944 five weeks after the invasion at Normandy,Le Puy-en-Velay was besieged. Roads, railroad and telephone lines were cut. On 18 August, the Germans attempted to escape in a fifty-truck convoy. Five hundred were captured, and about 150 killed in a massive ambush. The town fell the next day.Estivareilles in nearby Loire fell on 22 August. Paris was captured by conventional forces on 24 August.[9]
Haute-Loire is a department in south centralFrance and is part of the region ofAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The capital and largest town in the department isLe Puy-en-Velay. To the north of Haute-Loire liePuy-de-Dôme andLoire, to the east liesArdèche, to the south liesLozère and to the west liesCantal. The riverLoire rises in the southern part of the department and flows northwards, creating a wide valley. On either side of this lie ranges of mountains in theMassif Central.[10] The north part of the department is part of theLivradois-Forez Regional Natural Park, aprotected area of traditionally-farmed agricultural land and woodland, covering a total area of 297,000 hectares (730,000 acres).[11]
The department has four mountain ranges running north and south. These are the Haut-Vivarais and its continuation, the Boutières range, the Massif duMeygal, theVelay mountains and theMargeride Mountains.[12]
The highest point of the department is theMont Mézenc (1753 m) and its average elevation is 719 m.[13] The two-thirds of the area is over 800 m and the lowest point is 393 m.
Historically, Velay has been associated with the traditional region ofVivarais, now part of Ardèche. The two regions share a common dialect which is similar to that spoken in the south ofDauphiné, the reason probably being associated with the trade links between the two regions.[14]
Claude-Jean Allouez (1622–1689) was born in Saint-Didier-en-Velay. He was aJesuit missionary and explorer inNorth America who is said to have converted ten thousandNative Americans.[18] The town ofAllouez, Wisconsin is named after him.[19] The de Polignac family has its historic seat in the department, and various descendants ofGeneral Lafayette were senators for this region in the nineteenth century. The black metal band Peste Noire comes from the city La Chaise-Dieu. TheChâteau de Chavaniac, located in the commune, was the birthplace of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in 1757. Originally named Chavaniac, the commune was renamed Chavaniac-Lafayette in 1884 in honor of its most famous resident.
