Hers-Vif
| Hers-Vif | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Basin features | |
| Main source |
Pyrenees ±1,500 m (4,900 ft) |
| River mouth |
Ariège 43°18′21″N 1°33′9″E / 43.30583°N 1.55250°ECoordinates: 43°18′21″N 1°33′9″E / 43.30583°N 1.55250°E |
| Progression | Ariège→ Garonne→ Atlantic Ocean |
| Basin size | 1,350 km2 (520 sq mi) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 135 km (84 mi) |
| Discharge |
|
The Hers-Vif ("Live Hers", as opposed to the slower flowing Hers-Mort, "Dead Hers"), also named Grand Hers or simply Hers, is a 135-kilometre (84 mi) long river in southern France, right tributary of the Ariège.
The Hers-Vif rises at an elevation of about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) near the Chioula Pass of the Pyrenees, approximately 6 kilometres (4 mi) north of Ax-les-Thermes. It is the major tributary of the Ariège into whose right bank it flows 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) upstream from Cintegabelle in the Haute-Garonne.
It flows some 30 kilometres (19 mi) through the Pyrenees, descending 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) to the village of Peyrat, where it reaches a piedmont plain. Its valley widens as it traverses the plain, reaching the medieval city of Mirepoix, which marks the start of its lower valley.
Several rivers flow into it:
Departments and towns along its course are:
The Hers is probably known as vif (intense or rapid in this context) because of its sometimes spectacular floods – that of 16 June 1289 having entirely destroyed Mirepoix. More recently, there have been:
...
Wikipedia