Colmars

History

The name of the village comes from a hill dedicated to Mars by the Romans ("Collo Marto"). The village was originally situated further up a hill, but the site was judged to be too cramped and not possible to expand any further, so it was abandoned. It was destroyed by Raymond de Turenne in 1390. In the French Wars of Religion, the site was the target of several attacks: * Paulon de Mauvans, a Protestant captain, pillaged the village in 1560; * Cartier, a captain operating on behalf of de Mauvans, took and ransomed the village in 1583; * The French Catholic League sacked the village a few years later.

Geography

The village is situated at the confluence of the rivers Verdon and Lance, at an altitude of 1250 metres. The site of the village is a site inscrit, a site of special natural, scientific or historical interest. There are two other hamlets in the commune: Clignon-Haut and Clignon-Bas.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Griffon

  Gyps fulvus (Hablizl, 1783) · Aves
  381
• Alpine marmot

  Marmota marmota (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  368
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  313
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  301
• Northern Wheatear

  Oenanthe oenanthe (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  225
• Black-Veined White

  Aporia crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  222
• Coal Tit

  Periparus ater (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  215
• Alpine Saddle-backed Bush-cricket

  Ephippiger terrestris Yersin, 1854 · Insecta
  207

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