Lavedan
| Lavedan | |
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 43°00′N 0°06′W / 43.0°N 0.1°WCoordinates: 43°00′N 0°06′W / 43.0°N 0.1°W |
The Lavedan (in gascon eth/lo Lavedan, /et/lu laβedã/), or occasionally vallées des Gaves, denotes a mountainous natural region of France, located at the heart of the Pyrénées, and forms a group of valleys upstream of Lourdes.
The Lavedan is historically part of the Gascony province and of the county of Bigorre. Today, it is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region.
The name "Lavedan" is documented under ancient forms:in pago Lavetanense (v. 860),Levitanensis vicecomes (v. 980),vicecomites Levitanicæ vallis (v. 1060),Ramundus de Levitania (1095),homines Baredgie et Levitani (v. 1110),A. de Laueda (1114),Aramon Garsie de Lavedan (1283),terram de Lavedaa (1285).
Il is made up of the Latin -etan, -itan suffix, typically present in names of iberian peoples. Le radical est Lau- / Leu-.
The Lavedan is made up of 7 valleys, which in the past formed relatively self-sufficient and autonomous entities (they were named under vath, arribèra « valley » ou d'estrem « excentred valley ») :
The Lavedan corresponds to the Gave de Pau bassin, upstream from Lourdes namely with the valleys of the Gave de Gavarnie, the Gave de Cauterets and the Gave d'Azun.
The Lavedan communicates with the vallée de Campan (vallée de l'Adour) by the col du Tourmalet and with the vallée d'Ossau by the cirque du Litor (east of col d'Aubisque ; the left bank of the vallée de l'Ouzom is part of Ossau while the right bank is part of the val d'Azun). It is separated from the Aragon by the franco-spanish border, traversable by numerous ports.
The main towns are Argelès-Gazost, Pierrefitte-Nestalas, Cauterets, Luz-Saint-Sauveur, Gèdre and Gavarnie.
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