Blieux (; ) is a rural commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France.
History The commune of Blieux first appeared on maps in 1100.
Much later, during the French Revolution, records show that the residents of Blieux had created a political club (patriotic society), which was very common at the time. (See Jacobin Club).Patrice Alphand, « Les Sociétés populaires», La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes, Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no. 307, 1989, pp. 296-298
Name of the commune According to Ernest Nègre, the first recorded name for the commune, Bleus, was derived from the Occitan word bleusse, meaning 'dry'. This was likely a reference to the local soil.Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France : étymologie de 35 000 noms de lieux, Genève : Librairie Droz, 1990. Volume II : Formations dialectales. Notice 23793, p 1281 By contrast, Charles Rostaing argues that the name derives from the pre-Indo-European root word, *BL, meaning 'mountain in the form of a spur'.Charles Rostaing, Essai sur la toponymie de la Provence (depuis les origines jusqu’aux invasions barbares), Laffite Reprints, Marseille, 1973, p. 85
La Melle, the name of a nearby hamlet, comes from the Celtic word, mello, meaning an elevated location.Rostaing, p. 206
Economy Historically, Blieux was a pastoral community, with a yearly alpine grazing cycle known as transhumance. As with much of Provence, tourism the primary source of economic activity today.
Geography The village is located at an altitude of 950m, in the valley formed by a tributary of the river Asse, known as the 'Asse de Blieux'.
Hamlets le Bas-Chadoul la Melle la Tuilière Thon La Castelle
Summits and passes Mont Chiran (1905 m) le Grand Mourre (1898 m) Crête de Montmuye (Montmuye ridge) (Highest point: 1621 m) Le Mourre de Chanier ( 1930 m)
Demographics
With the exception of those that have been totally abandoned, Blieux is one of the communities in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department that has experienced the greatest population decline from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries.
Inhabitants are known as Blieuxois (masculine) and Blieuxoises (feminine) in French.
See also Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department
References