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**

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 bar:1968 from:0 till: 317
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 251
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 bar:1999 at: 237 fontsize:S text: 237 shift:(-8,5)
 bar:2009 at: 259 fontsize:S text: 259 shift:(-8,5)
 bar:2014 at: 243 fontsize:S text: 243 shift:(-8,5)

## 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 

File:Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges vue générale.jpg|General view: the valley, the cathedral, the mountains.
File:Lugdunum Convenarum-thermes forum.JPG|Ruins of *Lugdunum Convenarum*.
File:StBertComminges-vuegénérale.JPG|The upper town and the cathedral.
File:100 St-Bertrand-de-Comminges.JPG|The *Maison Bridaut''.

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

## References
## Other websites
* Website of the cathedral