Last modified: 2025-04-12 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-05-mg.gif)
Flag of Montgenèvre - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 27 January 2025
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Montgenèvre (459 inhabitants in 2022, 4,007 ha) is a French commune on the Italian border in the Hautes-Alpes department, in the French part of the Cottian Alps.
The source of the river Durance, a tributary of the Rhône, is in Les Gondrans ski area of Mongenèvre. Integrated into the Franco-Italian ski area of the Via Lattea (5th largest ski area in the world, including Clavière, San Sicario, Césane, Sestrières and Sauze d'Oulx), the Montgenèvre ski area extends over three levels: the "Grand Montgenèvre" area (95 kilometres of slopes, 24 ski lifts), the "Monts de la Lune" area (110 kilometres of slopes, 31 ski lifts), and the "Vialattea" area (405 kilometres of slopes, 70 ski lifts).
During Roman Antiquity, the Montgenèvre Pass was a crossing point for one of the Roman roads: the Via Domitia. According to some, Montgenèvre and the Montgenèvre Pass were crossed by Hannibal's troops during his passage through the Alps following the future Via del Alpi. In 58 BC, Julius Caesar passed through Montgenèvre on his way to Gaul. In 1155, the country was annexed to Dauphiné.
In 1906, the military leaders of the Briançon French Ski School, as well as the enthusiasts of the French Alpine Club, were disappointed by the low popularity of skiing among the local population. To generate real popular enthusiasm like that which exists in Switzerland, the Alpine Club, supported by the French army, then considered organizing a ski competition, which would be the first "international ski competition". Montgenèvre was officially promoted to international ski resort on February 11, 1907 with the organization of this first international competition by the French Alpine Club, in the presence of more than 3,000 spectators, not to mention the main Italian, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish and Norwegian delegations. Today, Montgenèvre is one of the most important ski resorts in the Southern Alps.
Olivier Touzeau, 27 January 2025
The flag is white with logo: photo (2022).
Olivier Touzeau, 27 January 2025