Gap, Hautes-Alpes

Gap is a commune in southeastern France, the capital and largest town of the Hautes-Alpes department. At a height of 750 m above sea level, it is France’s highest prefecture (departmental capital).

Together with other Alpine towns, Gap engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc.

Government
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Canton	Gap-1, 2, 3 and 4
Mayor (2020–2026)	Roger Didier
Area¹	110.43 km² (42.64 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)	40,895
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Geography

Location

Gap is located between the historic Dauphiné and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur administrative region. With its 40,895 inhabitants, it is the main town of an urban area of 64,251 inhabitants (2017), and the main town of the Southern French Alps. The region around Gap is known as Gapençais.

Transport

Rail

Gap is connected directly to Paris daily by a sleeper train network Intercités at night, but also by Corail or TER to Briançon, Grenoble, Valence (Gare de Valence-Ville and Gare de Valence TGV), as well as to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.

The line to Barcelonnette was also begun in the east, but never completed. A double curve viaduct remains beneath the waters of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon.

Air transport

Located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from Gap, the Gap–Tallard Airport can handle passenger traffic.

Urban transport

Public transport in the city is provided by the Linea network. There is also a school transport service, a shuttle between Domaine de Gap-Charance. Aside from the taxibus, all of these are totally free services for users.

Cycling facilities

Several cycle paths traverse the city. Some are separate from the road network, others are cycle lanes alongside roads.

Education

Gap is situated in the Académie d’Aix-Marseille.

Schools

The city administers 12 nursery schools, 13 elementary schools and 6 rural schools. There are also several private kindergartens and elementary schools.

The Department manages five collèges and four lycées of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, the Lycée professionnel Paul-Hariharan, the school of general and farm technology education “Les Emeyères”, the Dominique-Villars Lycée and the Aristide-Briand Lycée.

There are also two private schools, the Lycée professionnel Sévigné and Lycée Saint-Joseph. That said, the Lycée professionnel Sévigné is now public.

Higher education

Higher education in Gap is represented by the Pôle University of Gap, an annex of the former University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II, today the Aix-Marseille University, created from the merger of three universities.

Health

The city has a hospital, the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal of Alpes du Sud (CHICAS) which is divided into three entities. The first and most important site is Gap, which is the largest hospital of the Southern Alps. Gap is also equipped with a site specialising in geriatrics. As a result of a merger, the CHICAS manages the site of Sisteron. The Polyclinic of the Southern Alps is the only clinic present in the city and other centres of rehabilitation.

There is also a Maison Médicale du Gapençais with extended opening hours.

Economy

Industry

The BTP sector has grown through the inclusion of winter sports.

Tertiary sector

The tertiary sector is the sector which dominates the local economy:

Garrison town and administrative (prefecture, department hall)
Tourism

Gap is the seat of the Chamber of commerce and industry of the Hautes-Alpes. It manages the centre for regional and European tourism (CRET) of Briançon, the ADAPEI of Gap and the Centre Européen Médical Bioclimatique de Recherche et d’Enseignement Universitaire of Briançon.

Local Culture and Heritage

Cultural events and festivities

During the summer months, the association of merchants of the town centre Les Vitrines de Gap organises Nocturnes. These are musical and festive events accompanied by the opening of stores downtown from 7pm until 11pm. Each year an Expo Fair also takes place at the Parc de la Pépinnière during May.

The Quattro, a theatre with retractable tiered seating, organises all kinds of events, namely concerts, performances, business seminars, etc.

Places and monuments

The Hautes-Alpes Departmental Museum houses the mausoleum of François de Bonne sculpted in black Champsaur marble by Jacob Richier .
The manor of Kapados 6 rue des Charmettes 05000 Gap – private.
The pedestrianized center with small passages and pleasant terraces is built around the Place Jean-Marcellin.
Bronze by Cyril de La Patellière , “la Liseuse”.
The park of La Pépinière.
Clock Tower .
The town hall , listed as a historical monument since 1948.
The Saint-André-les-Cordeliers church.
The Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Arnoux.

The Charance

Charance Castle was built in the xvi ^th century . It includes a main building, which today is the headquarters of the Ecrins National Park , and several annexes, one of which houses the Park museum.

The domain of Charance also includes the National Alpine Botanical Conservatory, a terraced garden and a wooded area of 220 hectares around the castle and in the middle of which is a small lake: the lake of Charance.

Cultural heritage

The theater of La Passerelle, national stage of the Southern Alps.
The Quattro, a new multi-purpose cultural space inaugurated on May 27, 2008, initially called the “Cube”
The Conservatory with departmental influence.
The Municipal Culture and Leisure Center (CMCL).
The municipal library
The international festival of folk dances, which takes place every year in July.
Three cinemas exist in Gap (two of which had to be saved by the town hall when the building housing their walls was sold)
The Mountain Image Cinematheque (the “CIM”) is an association created in 1996 under the 1901 law, whose mission is to collect, safeguard and distribute all professional and amateur films shot in mountain areas since the invention of cinema.

Environmental heritage

A Gapençaise association, Société alpine de protection de la nature , created in 1971 , is responsible for environmental protection in the Gap region.

Sports

Clubs:

Ice hockey club, the Rapaces de Gap [Gap Raptors],
The Gap FC football team, which plays in the 1st division of the Alps District.
The athletic club, the Gap Hautes-Alpes athletics (GH2A).
Cross-country ski club, Ski club Gap-Bayard.
Road cycling and mountain biking club, the UCPG.
Mountain biking club, the PJPC.

The town of Gap regularly hosts stages of the Tour de France and the Critérium du Dauphiné in cycling, as well as the Monte Carlo Rally in motorsport.

The town of Gap is known for its mountain bike trek the Paths of the Sun, between Saillans and Gap.

The fitness centre Gap-Bayard, located on the Bayard plateau, has an 18-hole golf course that operates in summer and is a base for cross-country skiing in winter.