Moûtiers

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Coordinates: 45°29′09″N 6°32′04″E / 45.4858333333, 6.53444444444

Commune of Moûtiers
Location
Moûtiers (France)
Moûtiers
Administration
Country France
Region Rhône-Alpes
Department Savoie
Arrondissement Albertville
Canton Moûtiers
Statistics
Elevation 465 m–1,042 m
(avg. 479 m)
Land area¹ 3.16 km²
Population²
(1999)		 4,151
 - Density 1313/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 73181/ 73600
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France
For other places called Moûtiers or Moutiers, see Moutiers.

Moûtiers, historically also called Tarentaise, is a commune of the Savoie département, in the Rhône-Alpes région, in France. It is the access point to the Les Trois Vallées ski area and its train station, although not on a high-speed rail line, is an important stop for TGV trains from Lyon, Paris and beyond.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Moûtiers is located deep in the Tarentaise valley. It is its geographic capital, between Albertville and Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Several popular French ski resorts are located in its vicinity. The river Isère flows in the town.

[edit] History

Moûtiers was the capital of the Centrones, a Celtic tribe of Gaul. Its antique name, Darantasia, appears on a surviving ancient Roman road map known as the Tabula Peutingeriana. In a medieval text dating from 996, Moûtiers was called Monasterium (root of the word "monastery") from which its later names, Moustiers and finally Moûtiers, were derived.

Moûtiers was the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tarentaise. The archdiocese was disbanded in 1801, and reestablished as the Diocese of Tarentaise. This diocese was united with the diocese of Chambéry and diocese of St-Jean-de-Maurienne to form the diocese of Chambéry, Maurienne and Tarentaise.

Today, the town has a small historic center with narrow streets surrounding Saint-Pierre cathedral.

It hosted the TV display for the 1992 Winter Olympics.

[edit] Demography

demographic evolution
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999
3788 4161 4187 4342 4295 4151

[edit] Sightseeing

  • Saint-Pierre cathedral
  • Grand Rue (main street)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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