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Villelongue

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Commune in Occitania, France

Coat of arms

Location of Villelongue

(2020–2026) Pierre Tramont^[1]Area

20.46 km² (7.90 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

368 • Density18/km² (47/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

65473 /65260

Elevation457–2,484 m (1,499–8,150 ft)
(avg. 500 m or 1,600 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Villelongue (French pronunciation: [vil.lɔ̃ɡ]; Occitan: Vilalonca) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.^[3]

Villelongue is situated on the flank of the Hautacam mountain, around a stream called the Ruisseau d'Isaby, and descends to the Gave de Gavarnie torrent.

It consists of a main village with a smaller hamlet above called Ortiac. Ortiac has a medieval chapel. The woods above Ortiac conceal the Abbey of Saint-Orens, now in ruins.

Villelongue has considerably expanded in recent years^[when?], as new tracts are open to development and as the road infrastructure have developed to allow inhabitants to commute to Lourdes and Tarbes.

Villelongue is unusual among local towns in having a latinate name, rather than a name deriving from Bigourdan (the local dialect of the Occitan language). The name is said to derive from a Latin villa (i.e. a large farm) dating from late antiquity, situated in the lower part of the modern village, in an area known as "Las Longas".

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file