Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is a commune in southwestern France, part of the department of Haute-Garonne in the Occitanie region.

History
In 72 B.C. the Roman General Pompey, while on the way back to Rome after a military campaign in Spain, founded a Roman colony there named Lugdunum Convenarum.

In 1083, the knight Bertrand de l'Isle-Jourdain was named as Bishop of Comminges. He ordered the construction of the cathedral and of the Romanesque cloister. The place became used by pilgrims as a stage on the route to Santiago de Compostela.

Bertrand de l'Isle was canonised and became known as Saint-Bertrand in the 13th century and Lugdunum Convenarum became known as Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges.

Geography
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is on the foothills of the Pyrenees in the Comminges region at  to the southwest of Saint-Gaudens. It is on the border with the Hautes-Pyrénées department.

The commune has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is the southwestern end of Haute-Garonne department and borders 8 other communes, six of them in the Hautes-Pyrénées department.

The Garonne river flows through the northeastern border of the commune; several of its tributaries, all small streams, flow through the commune.

Climate
The climate of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.

Population
The inhabitants of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges are known, in French, as Commingeois (women: Commingeoises).

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges has a population, in 2014, of 243, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges

Administration 
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is part of the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens, the Bagnères-de-Luchon canton and of the intercommunality Les Pyrénées Haut-Garonnaises ().

People born at or related to Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges
 Bertrand de Comminges (~ 1050–1123), Bishop of Comminges that rebuilt the cathedral; the commune is named after him.
 Bertrand de Got (~ 1264–1314) was bishop of Comminges and later pope with the name of Clement V.
 Pierre de Foix (1386–1464), bishop of Comminges that built the tomb of Saint Bertrand.
 François Bayle (1622-1709), born in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, physician, botanist, professor of Medicine at the old University of Toulouse.
 Nérée Boubée (1806–1862), entomologist, geologist, co-founder of a museum of the Pyrenees in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges together with Victor Cazes.

Events
 Festival international de musique du Comminges (pipe organ and religious music).
Journée de la littérature jeunesse et de l'écrit de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges.

Sites of interest
Some important buildings and places are:
 Ruins of the old city of Lugdunum Convenarum.
 The Notre-Dame of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges cathedral.
 The early Christianity basilica, in the lower town.
 The old Convent of the Olivetans; now the tourism office is here.
 Maison Bridaut; here is the post office.

Gallery

Related pages
 Comminges
 Arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens
 Communes of the Haute-Garonne department

References

Other websites

 Mairie de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges website 
 Website of the cathedral 

Communes in Haute-Garonne