Villard-de-Lans
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 Villard-de-Lans
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Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Villard-de-Lans
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| Coordinates: 45°04′15″N 5°33′05″E / 45.0708°N 5.5514°ECoordinates: 45°04′15″N 5°33′05″E / 45.0708°N 5.5514°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Isère | |
| Arrondissement | Grenoble | |
| Canton | Villard-de-Lans | |
| Intercommunality | Massif du Vercors | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2014–2020) | Chantal Carlioz | |
| Area1 | 67.20 km2 (25.95 sq mi) | |
| Population (2012)2 | 4,051 | |
| • Density | 60/km2 (160/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 38548 / 38250 | |
| Elevation | 720–2,286 m (2,362–7,500 ft) | |
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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. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Villard-de-Lans is a commune in the Isère department of the Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes region in southeastern France. The town is also situated in the Vercors Massif. It was the administrative centre of the eponymous canton until the departmental elections of 2015. After the elections, Villard-de-Lans and the communes of its former canton were all incorporated into the new Fontaine-Vercors canton. The town remains the seat of the Community of Communes in the Vercors Massif (CCMV).
The town is a centre for skiing in winter, as well as hiking and hot air ballooning during the other seasons. It is also the town with the largest amount of available lodging in the entire Vercors Regional Natural Park.
Starting in 1906, the town of Villard-de-Lans was recognized as a ski resort. More facilities were built during the 1920s that allowed the town to host its first bobsled and luge competition in 1931.
For over a decade, the town was connected to the prefecture centre of Grenoble by a tram called the Tramway Grenoble - Villard-de-Lans. The tram, which also serviced the towns of Lans-en-Vercors and Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, had completely seized operations by 1949.
During World War II, Villard-de-Lans was host to the only Polish high school in Occupied Europe. There is a plaque on the old building memorializing the names of the numerous students and teachers were deported to camps by the occupying force during the war.
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Wikipedia