Tignes

Tignes Val Claret, taken from slopes of the Grande Motte mountain

Coat of arms

Tignes

Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

Tignes

Coordinates: 45°28′06″N 6°54′20″E / 45.4683°N 6.9056°ECoordinates: 45°28′06″N 6°54′20″E / 45.4683°N 6.9056°E

Country

Bourg-Saint-Maurice

Government

• Mayor (2014–2020)

Jean-Christophe Vitale

Area¹

81.63 km² (31.52 sq mi)

Population (2014)²

2,587

• Density

32/km² (82/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

73296 / 73320

Elevation

1,440–3,747 m (4,724–12,293 ft)
(avg. 1,810 m or 5,940 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Tignes (French pronunciation: [tiɲ]) is a commune in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is located in the Savoie region with good transport links in and out of Lyon, Geneva and Chambery.

It is best known as a ski resort. Together with nearby Val d'Isère, it forms the "Espace Killy" ski area. Tignes was the freestyle skiing venue for the 1992 Winter Olympics and co-host city for the 1992 Winter Paralympics.

Tignes comprises 5 Villages; Val Claret, Tignes le Lac, Le Lavachet, Tignes Les Boisses and Tignes-les-Brévières. The first three are close together at 2100 m and Les Boisses and Les Brevieres are further down the valley, above and below the dam respectively. Les Brévières is an old village whereas all the others were created as part of the Dam construction or development of the ski resort. All the villages are part of the ski resort known as Tignes.

The original village of Tignes was in the Isère valley below Val d'Isère. After the second world war, France needed electricity and it was decided to build the hydro-electric Tignes Dam in the Isère valley. Whilst this was a great achievement for French engineering and was for the greater good of France, it meant that the old village of Tignes was drowned. The dam was completed and the village was submerged in 1952. A replica of the original church was created in Tignes les Boisses. Once every 10 years the lake behind the dam (Lac du Chevril) is drained for maintenance work and the remains of the old village becomes visible.

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Wikipedia