Barrême

History

Augustus conquered the Valley of Asses at the same time as the Alps, which he completed in 14 BC. At the end of the Roman Empire it is certain that the Valley of Asses was annexed by the Civitas of Sanitensium (Senez) and its diocese. The village community had also supported Charles de Duras and also submitted in 1386. As with many communes in the department, Barrême adopted schools well before the Jules Ferry laws: in 1863 it had two, installed one in the main village and one in Gévaudan, both of which provided primary education for boys. No instruction was given for girls. The Falloux Laws (1851)require the opening of a school for girls if a commune had more than 800 inhabitants but this was not applied. With the first Duruy Law (1867), which lowered the threshold to 500 people Barrême decided to teach girls. The town benefited from the second Duruy Act (1877) to refurbish the village school. On 4 March 1944 two officers of the Gestapo were arrested by members of the Secret Army (AS). Vines were cultivated in the commune until the middle of the 20th century for home consumption only. This culture has since been abandoned.

Geography

Barrême is located at an altitude of 722 m some 20 km south-east of Digne-les-Bains and 15 km north-west of Castellane. Access to the commune is by Route nationale N85 which comes from Chaudon-Norante in the north-east and ends in the village. The N202 goes east from the village to Moriez. The D4085 goes south from the village to Senez. Apart from the village there are two hamlets: Gévaudan on a height near the N202, and la Basse-Palud. The Nice to Digne railway passes through the commune running parallel with the N85 and N202. It has three halts and one station: Saut du Loup, Barrême Station, La Tuiliere, and Gévaudan. *Forest fire *Flood *Landslide Barrême is exposed to one risk of technological origin: transport of dangerous good along the Route nationales. There is no plan for prevention of foreseeable natural risks (PPR) for the commune but there has been a DICRIM since 2011. The commune has been subjected to several natural disasters: in 1984 an earthquake; floods, landslides and mudslides in 1994, 1996, 2008 and 2011. Other than that of 1984 and that of 27 September 1911, whose epicentre was in the commune but was not felt, the earthquake felt the most was that of 19 March 1935 (epicentre at Saint-Clément-sur-Durance).

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Griffon

  Gyps fulvus (Hablizl, 1783) · Aves
  639
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  437
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  409
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  361
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  349
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  346
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  336
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  305

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2025-03-20
  1 km WSW of Cantaron, France
• M 3.1 — 2025-03-18
  1 km ESE of Tourrette-Levens, France
• M 3.3 — 2025-03-18
  2 km N of Berre-les-Alpes, France
• M 3.9 — 2024-12-09
  8 km WNW of Acceglio, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2023-11-21
  10 km WSW of Acceglio, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2023-05-16
  16 km W of Pleyne, Italy