Saint-Hilaire (Plateau-des-Petites-Roches)
Saint-Hilaire, also known as Saint-Hilaire du Touvet, is a former commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Plateau-des-Petites-Roches.
It is made up of the three smaller settlements of Saint-Hilaire, Les Margains and Les Gaudes, and its inhabitants are called the Saint-Hilairois (Saint-Hilairoises).
The commune is situated on the Plateau des Petites Roches, a natural balcony above the valley of the Isère, on the east side of the Massif de la Chartreuse and overlooked by the peak of the Dent de Crolles.
Saint-Hilaire is linked to Montfort, situated on the road between Grenoble and Chambéry in the valley below, by the Funiculaire de Saint-Hilaire du Touvet. Until this was opened in 1924, the village was accessible only on foot, or by mule. The funicular was constructed principally to serve several sanatoriums built at the same time to house tuberculosis patients. A road has long since been opened, and the funicular is now used mostly by tourists and paragliders.
It is made up of the three smaller settlements of Saint-Hilaire, Les Margains and Les Gaudes, and its inhabitants are called the Saint-Hilairois (Saint-Hilairoises).
The commune is situated on the Plateau des Petites Roches, a natural balcony above the valley of the Isère, on the east side of the Massif de la Chartreuse and overlooked by the peak of the Dent de Crolles.
Saint-Hilaire is linked to Montfort, situated on the road between Grenoble and Chambéry in the valley below, by the Funiculaire de Saint-Hilaire du Touvet. Until this was opened in 1924, the village was accessible only on foot, or by mule. The funicular was constructed principally to serve several sanatoriums built at the same time to house tuberculosis patients. A road has long since been opened, and the funicular is now used mostly by tourists and paragliders.
Map - Saint-Hilaire (Plateau-des-Petites-Roches)
Map
Country - France
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Inhabited since the Palaeolithic era, the territory of Metropolitan France was settled by Celtic tribes known as Gauls during the Iron Age. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language. The Germanic Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia becoming the Kingdom of France in 987. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly decentralised feudal kingdom. Philip II successfully strengthened royal power and defeated his rivals to double the size of the crown lands; by the end of his reign, France had emerged as the most powerful state in Europe. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, France was plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts involving England, collectively known as the Hundred Years' War, and a distinct French identity emerged as a result. The French Renaissance saw art and culture flourish, conflict with the House of Habsburg, and the establishment of a global colonial empire, which by the 20th century would become the second-largest in the world. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots that severely weakened the country. France again emerged as Europe's dominant power in the 17th century under Louis XIV following the Thirty Years' War. Inadequate economic policies, inequitable taxes and frequent wars (notably a defeat in the Seven Years' War and costly involvement in the American War of Independence) left the kingdom in a precarious economic situation by the end of the 18th century. This precipitated the French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
EU | Basque language |
BR | Breton language |
CA | Catalan language |
CO | Corsican language |
FR | French language |
OC | Occitan language |