Barras, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence


Barras is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of south-eastern France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barrasiens or Barrasiennes.

Geography

Barras is located some 6 km west of Digne-les-Bains and 14 km south-east of Sisteron. The highest point in the commune is the summit of Ruth. The sole access to the commune is the D17 road which branches from Route nationale N85 at Mallemoisson and goes north through the commune and the village and continues north to join the D3 near Thoard. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Les Bourguignons and Les Beauduns. The commune is mostly farmland on a fairly rugged landscape.
Les Duyes stream forms the eastern border of the commune as it flows south to join the Bléone west of Les Grillons. The Ravin de Vaunaves forms most of the north-eastern border as it flows south-east to join Les Duyes. The Ravin de Fulgon and the Ravin de Rostan rise in the west of the commune and flow east joining before flowing into Les Duyes. The Ravin de Barbarine forms part of the western border of the commune as it flows south to join Les Duyes in the south-eastern corner of the commune.

Natural and technological risks

None of the 200 communes in the department is in a no seismic risk zone. The Canton of Digne-les-Bains-2 to which Barras belongs is in area 1b according to the deterministic classification of 1991 and based on its seismic history and in zone 4 according to the probabilistic classification EC8 of 2011. Barras also faces three other natural hazards:
Barras is not exposed to any risk of technological origin identified by the prefecture.
There is no plan for prevention of foreseeable natural risks for the commune and there is no DICRIM.
The commune was the subject of two natural disaster orders in 1994 for floods and mudslides.

Toponymy

The locality appears for the first time in texts in 1202. According to Charles Rostaing it is from an oronymic root *BAR. According to Ernest Negro it comes from the Gallic barro with the augmentative suffix -as.
The toponym La Garde, above Tournefort, may refer to a fortified settlement of the 9th - 10th century and the name Bourguignons refers to the name of the people.

History

In Ancient times, the Bodiontici populated the Bléone valley and its tributaries as well as the Gauls who lived in the current commune of Barras. The Bodiontici were defeated by Augustus at the same time as the other peoples present on the Tropaeum Alpium. Barras was attached to the province of Alpes-Maritimes at the time of its creation. An ancient settlement has been found at Saint-Pierre and Chapelier south of the village. The priory of Ganagobie Abbey existed in the 11th century.
In 1070 a person named Féraud donated the fiefdom of Beaucouse to the Abbey of Saint-Victor of Marseille. Most of the territory of Barras was part of this fief so Barras had the Abbey Saint-Victor as lord. At that time there was a large estate in Saint Domnin where the abbey installed a priory which passed to the Bishop of Gap in the 14th century.
The medieval community in Barras was characterized by scattered settlements. It had 37 fires in 1315. It was heavily depopulated by the crises of the 14th century and the population was completely eliminated in 1471. The smaller fief of Barras belonged to the counts of Provence until 1297 when Charles II of Naples gave it to a noble family which took the name of the fief. This family lasted until the 19th century and provided many officers such as Jean-Antoine Barras de la Penne and Jacques Melchior Barras de Saint-Laurent.
The community of Tournefort was larger than that of Barras in the Middle Ages: it had 48 fires in 1315 but it was also heavily depopulated by the crises of the 14th century and declared uninhabited in 1400 then annexed by Barras in the 15th century. At the same time soldiers seized the castle of Tournefort and threatened the region through their raids and looting. After the successful siege of the castle of Briançonnet, the army from Sisteron laid siege to Tournefort castle in 1393 and expelled the brigands.
The church was part of the Abbey of Chardavon and the Abbey received the revenues attached to this church.
The Patriotic Society of Barras was created in 1791: it was one of the first in the Lower Alps, probably due to the fact that the parish priest, Jean Gaspard Gassend, was deputy to the States General. It corresponded at that time both with the Jacobin Club and the Feuillants Club.
Barras appears as Les Barras on the 1750 Cassini Map and the same on the 1790 version.
The Coup d'état of 2 December 1851 committed by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte against the French Second Republic provoked an armed uprising in the Lower Alps in defence of the Constitution. After the failure of the uprising harsh repression continued on those who stood up to defend the Republic: 5 inhabitants of Barras were brought before the Joint Committee.
As with many communes in the department, Barras had a school well before the Jules Ferry laws: in 1863 the school already provided a primary education for boys. By contrast no instruction was given to girls: neither the Falloux Laws, which required the opening of a girls' school in communes with more than 800 inhabitants, nor the first Duruy Law, which lowered the threshold to 500 inhabitants, concerned Barras. The second Duruy Act allowed it, thanks to government subsidies, to build a new school but it was only after the Ferry laws that the village girls were enrolled.
Until the middle of the 20th century vines were cultivated in Barras. The wine product was of poor quality and was intended for local consumption. This culture is now abandoned. Similarly, olive trees, grown on small areas in the 19th century up to an altitude of 600 metres and exceptionally up to 700 metres, is now gone.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors
FromToNamePartyPosition
19451947Danton LegayFormer French Resistance SE
20012008Bertin Jassend
20082020Rémy Gravière

Education

The commune has a primary school.

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 158 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.
The demographic history of Barras, after the decimation in the 14th and 15th centuries and the gradual growth until the beginning of the 19th century, is marked by a period of "slack" where the population remained relatively stable at a high level. This period lasted from 1806 to 1861. The rural exodus then caused a movement of long-term population decline. In 1926 the town had lost over half of its population compared to the historical peak of 1836. The downward movement was interrupted in the 1980s. Since then the population of Barras overtook the threshold of 150 inhabitants equivalent to half that of 1836.

Economy

General overview

In 2009 the active population was 66 people including 3 unemployed. These workers are mostly employees and mainly work outside the commune. Most of the communal workers are in agriculture, with 13 establishments and 5 salaried jobs. Industry and construction supplies 20% of salaried jobs in the commune.

Agriculture

At the end of 2010 the primary sector had thirteen active establishments within the meaning of Insee and five salaried jobs.
According to Agreste survey by the Ministry of Agriculture the number of farms increased slightly in the 2000s, going from ten to eleven, mainly sheep and cattle farms. From 1988 to 2000, the utilised agricultural area increased sharply from 311 hectares to 1289 while the number of farms fell from 14 to 11. The UAA declined slightly during the past decade, but remains at a high level at 1215 hectares.
The commune is included in the scope of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée Huile d'olive de Provence AOC.

Industry

At the end of 2010 the secondary sector had a single establishment employing 18 employees: the Duyes Valley Workshop, which is a Social economy enterprise specializing in packaging.

Service activities

At the end of 2010 the tertiary sector had 5 establishments with no employees, to which can be added four administrative institutions employing 3 people.
According to the Departmental Observatory of Tourism, the tourist function is of secondary importance to the town with less than one tourist received per capita with no facilities at all in the commune.
There are just 5 Second homes in the commune.

Culture and heritage

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint Nicolas has a bell tower with arches and two windows above the church. The nave rises to the roof. The door indicates a date in the 17th century. Its Retable is decorated with a common theme of the Donation pof the Rosary.
The Church contains a Baptismal font that is registered as an historical object.
The commune also has three chapels in ruins: