history - museums
Index/contents:
- Origins of the name, Bagnères-de-Luchon
- Short history of a the town, Bagnères-de-Luchon
- Celebrities visit Bagnères-de-Luchon
- Museums of Bagnères-de-Luchon
Origins of the name, Bagnères-de-Luchonphotographic guide
Bagnères are baths, or bath-tubs. Bain is a very old word, quoted by Jean Nicot in the first French dictionary published in 1606. Antoine Furetière, in 1690, mentions the Baths of Vichi ( the name goes back to before the invasion of the city by the Greeks :-) ). These two old dictionaries mention neither bagnère, nor baignerie, but do mention baignoire. Would the word Bagnère be how it developed over the course of time?
February 11, 1764, Voltaire wrote to the Duke of Richelieu: "... and if you ever return to Bannières... "
(Letter 8153, page 562 of the Correspondence of Voltaire, volume 7, Bibliothèque de la Pleiade.)
Why did Voltaire, a cultivated man, use this spelling "Bannières"? The Duke of Richelieu came for the cure in 1763, and slept in a house (which is now demolished) just opposite our Hôtel Alouette, beside the small church of Barcugnas. We are certain that the "Bannières" of Voltaire is our Bagnères-de-Luchon.
Luchon probably comes from ilixon, or lixon,the name of a Celtic god, or Roman, or Basque, or Spanish god (it depends which source you believe, excuse the pun) of springs. Another possible explanation, according to certain experts, could be the Celt loch, lake, marsh, stretch of water. Could Loch Ness be related to Luchon?
Do you know of any references which mention ilixon? What date exactly did the name of Luchon appear? Can anyone tell me?
All the documents quoted in the history books mention "Bagnères " and only Bagnères, until approximately 1700. A map from 1730, which you can see in the town's museum, mentions Bagnières, with an I. Then you can find Luchon on its own, and Bagnères on its own, or Bagnères-de-Luchon. Was it the Revolution which, during the development of the communes, created the name Bagnères-de-Luchon?
If you have any information on this, don't keep it to yourself!
A short history of Bagnères-de-Luchon.photographic guide
This page does not aim to tell you everything in detail because it would be too long. The Hôtel Alouette has books on the subject, which you are welcome to see.
People came to the valleys after the glaciers melted. The current site of the town of Bagnères-de-Luchon was a 10km lake, created by ice. The first men settled in caves, like those of Saint-Mamet the neighbouring commune. In about 4200 BC the Celts from Spain arrived and occupied the valleys to farm and hunt. You can find traces of their life in the form of standing stones, called menhirs, either isolated or in large numbers. There are also stones laid out marking a burial ground, the cromlechs.
The Romans arrived, with their advanced civilization, attracted to the thermal springs. They established themselves in Saint Bertrand de Comminges, in about 72 BC, for reasons that would take too long to explain. Certain sources mention several thousands of inhabitants at Saint Bertrand de Comminges at that time. It was while looking after his wounds that a Roman soldier discovered the healing power of the springs of sulfurous hot water. It was at the foot of a mountain, at the bottom of a deep valley. The Romans were great fans of the baths and masters in art of building, and exploited these natural resources in about the year 25 BC. The thermal center of Bagnères-de-Luchon was created. The foundations of its baths were discovered during the building of the new thermal baths between 1800 and 1850. The plan of these baths can be seen at the museum of Bagnères-de-Luchon, as well as some fragments of mosaics. Life went on peacefully for about 420 years, or so it says in the books.
And then the barbarians arrived and managed to destroy the Roman empire completely. Moors from Spain crossed the Pyrenees and travelled north. They stopped in Toulouse and Poitiers, then were driven back towards the south in about AD 732. To defend itself, the village of Ilixon became a fortress town. Charlemagne, the great ruler of Europe, divided the large territory into small pieces, each one under a local leader. Everything became calm for a few centuries. Except that the Moors, who occupied Spain, crossed the Pyrenees to plunder, and set fire to villages. This lasted until 1492! The now prosperous village of Ilixon changed its name because of its baths, its baigneries, and became Bagnères. But when exactly? The inhabitants of Bagnères, called bagnérais, were relatively rich for that time, around the year 1000.
As the catholic church grew it decided to take back its Holy Land, Jerusalem, which was in the hands of what they saw as heathens. In about the year 1100 Jerusalem was more stable as the development of two religious military orders took place, the Knight Templers and the order of the Hospitaliers. They established small garrisons across France and improved the safety of travellers, and provided refuges for the travelling tradesmen. The travellers who used the Col de la Glère, the Port de Venasque or the Pas de Mounjoye settled in Saint Jean de Joueou. (Jupiter, see the glossary.) There is now no trace of their presence there. You can visit the arboretum at Jouéou, which is managed by the university of Toulouse.
In 1454 all the valleys were ruled by royalty. New taxes and more taxes! You see, these things go back a long way. Illegal trade developed across the mountains and it was booming. The war with Spain lasted until 1518 when there were epidemics of the plague and cholera. In 1542 the order of Hospitaliers starts to lose power. The number of inhabitants fell with some villages disappearing. Misery settled in the valleys.
The development of Bagnères-de-Luchon started in 1759, with road improvements which connected it to other villages to the north, Montréjeau and Saint Gaudens. There followed the creation of new streets, in particular that which connected the village to its baths, les allees d'Etigny (after the engineer). In 1873 the railway arrived in Bagnères-de-Luchon. It was the height popularity for the thermal baths which attracted a lot of famous people, investment and wealth. In 1880 the casino opened its doors. The market hall, in the style of the architect Baltard (Parisien markets), opens to customers in 1897. Skiing started to make its appearance in 1903, and golf in 1910. The foundations of Superbagnères were begun in 1910 and Le Grand Hotel was opened in 1922. The rack and pinion railway built in 1911, carried the customers from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Superbagnères in 45 minutes. It was stopped in 1966, because it was losing money, and was replaced in 1993 by the current telecabin which gets you to Superbagnères in 8 minutes.
If you have more precise details or can spot mistakes in this short history of Bagnères-de-Luchon, do not hesitate to let me know.
Would you like to know the history of skiing?
Some celebrities have visited Bagnères-de-Luchonphotographic guide
It is impossible to quote them all. In the 18th century, it is simple, they all came! All the princes and their princesses. Not from everywhere in the world, we musn't exaggerate anything, but all French royalty and noblemen.
Then we were pleased to welcome: Sadi Carnot, physicist (1796 - 1832), Alphonse of Lamartine (1790 - 1869, poet writer, statesman), Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880, writer), Alexandre Dumas son (1824 - 1895, writer), José - Maria de Hérédia (1842 - 1905, poet), Edmond Rostand (1868 - 1918, poet and writer), Paul Sabatier (1854 - 1941, chemist), Sacha Guitry (1885 - 1957, actor and author), François Carcopino-Tusoli, better known as Francis Carco (1886 - 1958, writer), François Mauriac (1885 - 1970, writer).
Here is a poem from José-Maria de Hérédia, a kind of short history of Bagnères-de-Luchon!
Le voeu
Jadis l'Ibère noir et le Gall au poil fauve
Et le Garumne brun peint d'ocre et de carmin,
Sur le marbre votif entaillé par leur main,
Ont dit l'eau bienfaisante et sa vertu qui sauve.
Puis les Imperators, sous le Venasque chauve,
Bâtirent la piscine et le therme romain,
Et Fabia Festa, par ce même chemin,
A cueilli pour les Dieux la verveine ou la mauve.
Aujourd'hui, comme aux jours d'Iscitt et d'Ilixon,
Les sources m'ont chanté leur divine chanson ;
Le soufre fume encore à l'air pur des moraines.
C'est pourquoi, dans ces vers, accomplissant les voeux,
Tel qu'autrefois Hunnu, fils d'Ulohox, je veux
Dresser l'autel barbare aux Nymphes Souterraines.
And Victor Hugo? Did he come or not? The only proof would be a poem he wrote in a visitors' book of an inn. Reality or something to attract visitors? An English Lord wanted to pay a ridiculous price for this book. The landlord refused to sell it so the Lord stole it. But we must not fight the one hundred years war with our English friends to recover this manuscript. Nevertheless, if you find it in your attic let us know. We promise we won't hold it against you personally! A big reward (a photocopy of the page of the book) will be given to the person who helps us recover this piece of our history.
Other characters who came to take the waters at Bagnères-de-Luchon: Casimir Périer (1777 - 1832), Adolphe Thiers (1797 - 1877), Léon Gambetta (1838 - 1882), Otto Bismark (1815 - 1898), Léopold II, king of Belgium (1835 - 1909), Jean Jaurès (1859 - 1914), Paul Deschanel (1855 - 1922), George Clémenceau (1841 - 1929), Ferdinand Foch (1851 - 1929), Joseph Joffre (1852 - 1931), Gaston Doumergue (1863 - 1937), Vincent Auriol (1884 - 1966), and lots of others, it's impossible to list them all.
Not all of them came to the Hôtel Alouette, which many of them regretted.
Museums at Bagnères-de-Luchonphotographic guide
There are two museums: a general one and one dedicated to aviation.
The museum of aeronautics is at the aerodrome. It takes about 10 minutes to walk there from the Hôtel Alouette.
There are a lot of wrecks of planes that crashed in the surrounding mountains during the second (and last, I hope) world war.
The museum of Bagnères-de-Luchon is located in centre town, also about 10 minutes walk from the Hôtel Alouette. It is in one of the oldest buildings in the city (1772) and is above the Tourist office.
There you will find the history of the town, tools and other objects, drawings, engravings, paintings, old charts, Roman remains, a skeleton of a bear from the caves, and stuffed birds of prey.
A very large relief model of the valley occupies a whole room so you can find out the name of all the mountains here.