Briançon was theBrigantium of the Romans and formed part of the kingdom ofKing Cottius. Brigantium was marked as the first place inGallia afterAlpis Cottia (Mont Genèvre). At Brigantium the road branched, to the west throughGrenoble toVienna (modernVienne), on theRhone; to the south throughEbrodunum (modernEmbrun), toVapincum (modernGap). Both theAntonine Itinerary and theTable give the route from Brigantium to Vapincum. The Table places Brigantium 6 M.P. from Alpis Cottia.Strabo[3] mentions the village Brigantium on a road to Alpis Cottia, but his words are obscure.
Ptolemy mentions Brigantium as within the limits of theSegusini, or people ofSegusio (modernSusa), inPiedmont; but it seems, asD'Anville observes, to be beyond the natural limits of the Segusini. Walckenaer (vol. i. p. 540) justifies Ptolemy in this matter by supposing that he follows a description of Italy made before the new divisions ofAugustus, which we know fromPliny. Walckenaer also supports his justification of Ptolemy by theJerusalem Itinerary, which makes theAlpes Cottiae commence atRama (near modernLa Roche-de-Rame) between Embrun and Briançon.
In the 1040s it came into the hands of thecounts of Albon and thenceforth shared the fate of theDauphiné. The Briançonnais included not only the upper valley of the Durance (with those of its affluents, the Gyronde and the Guil) but also the valley of the Dora Riparia (Césanne, Oulx, Bardonnèche and Exilles) and that of the Chisone (Fénestrelles, Pérouse, Pragelas). The glens all lay on the eastern slope of the chain of the Alps. However theTreaty of Utrecht (1713) handed all of those valleys to Savoy in exchange for that of Barcelonnette, on the west slope of the Alps. In 1815 Briançon successfully withstood a siege of three months at the hands of the Allies, a feat commemorated by an inscription on one of its gates,Le passé répond de l'avenir ("The past guarantees the future").
Briançon is located near theItalian border, in theSerre Chevalier ski area. It is built on a plateau centred on the confluence of theDurance and theGuisane rivers.Briançon station has rail connections to Gap, Marseille, Valence and Paris.
The historical centre is a strongly fortified town, built byVauban to defend the region fromAustrians in the 17th century. Its streets are very steep and narrow, though picturesque. Briançon lies at the foot of the descent from theCol de Montgenèvre, giving access to Turin, so a great number of other fortifications have been constructed on the surrounding heights, especially towards the east. TheFort Janus is no less than 1,200 m. above the town.
The parish church, with its two towers, was built 1703–1726, and occupies a very conspicuous position.
The Pont d'Asfeld, east of the town, was built in 1734, and forms an arch of 40 m span, thrown at a height of 56 m across the Durance.
The modern town extends in the plain at the southwest foot of the plateau on which the old town is built and forms the suburb of Ste Catherine.
On 8 July 2008, several buildings of Briançon were classified by theUNESCO asWorld Heritage Sites, as part of the "Fortifications of Vauban" group. These buildings are: the city walls, Redoute des Salettes, Fort des Trois-Têtes, Fort du Randouillet,ouvrage de la communication Y and the Asfeld Bridge. Along with Briançon, 11 other sites of fortified buildings in France were classified. Among them is theplace-forte ofMont-Dauphin, also in the Hautes-Alpes department. These pieces of art were designed by Sébastien Le Prestre deVauban (1633–1707), a military engineer ofKing Louis XIV.
As Briançon has regularly featured as a stage town in theTour de France, it is a popular base for cyclists. Since 1947, the town has been the start point for a stage of the Tour 22 times, and has also been a stage finish 22 times.
Briançon is situated around the confluence of the Durance river and its tributary the Guisane which are fed with snow melt in the Spring. Tourists come from around Europe tokayak andraft on the resultantwhitewater rivers and their tributaries, including the Onde, the Gyronde, theGuil, the Rabioux, theUbaye and others; often basing themselves in Briançon.
The Prorel cable car goes to the summit of Mont Prorel.
Popularwhite water rivers in the Alps are mainly medium volumeglacier-fed rivers with long continuous rapids and few big drops. The season is short (two or three months in early summer when the snow and glaciers are melting) but the whitewater is reliable during this period.
Briançon is the base and lowest altitude station of the largeSerre Chevalier ski resort. Most of the city's accommodation is used exclusively in winter, the population tripling during that period.
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