Les Belleville (French pronunciation: [le bɛlvil]) is a commune in the Savoie department of southeastern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by the merger of the former communes of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville and Villarlurin. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Saint-Jean-de-Belleville was merged into Les Belleville.
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Saint-Martin-de-Belleville bɛlvil]) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Les Belleville.
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is home to one of the best restaurants in the French Alps, the 3 Michelin starred La Bouitte.
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Méribel Ice Palace is an indoor ice hockey arena in Méribel, France. It was built in 1991 and held 8,000 people when it opened. The ice hockey games from the 1992 Winter Olympics were held at this arena. After the Olympics the name of the arena changed to the Patinoire Olympique, the capacity was reduced to 2,400, and part of the arena was converted into a swimming pool, restaurant, and other uses.
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Roc de Fer is a World Cup downhill Alpine skiing course in Méribel, France, which is part of the large interlinked ski area known as Les Trois Vallées in the Savoie department of France, near Mont Blanc. The course was originally created for the 1992 Winter Olympics and has since played host to the World Cup season finals in 2015 and 2022 and the 2023 FIS World Ski Championships, the latter two in conjunction with the L’Éclipse course in the neighboring town of Courchevel.
Roc de Fer is considered venue for 2030 Winter Olympics Alpine skiing events.
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Méribel is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps. Méribel refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie department of France, near the town of Moûtiers, called Méribel Centre, Méribel-Mottaret and Méribel Village. The villages are within Vanoise National Park and a part of the Les Trois Vallées interlinked ski system.
Méribel Les Allues is a ski resort that was developed adjacent to the traditional hamlet of Morel, with its centre situated at about 1400 metres above sea level. It was founded by a Scotsman, Major Peter Lindsay, who was looking for a new site for winter sports away from the ski resorts of Austria and Germany, because of the growing strength of the Nazi regime. In 1936, he visited the town of Les Allues for the first time. He then imagined how the town could become a ski resort. Firstly, he decided to create a property company in order to develop finances strong enough to build the resort. In 1938, the first lift was placed above Les Allues. A year later, he began the construction of the first chalets and hotels in the hamlet of Méribel. Three years later, the war would stop the development of the resort, but when it was over, development continued. Now a Colonel, Peter Lindsay used specialised architects, Paul Grillo and his partner Christian Durupt, so that all buildings would be in harmony with the Savoyard style, using wood and stone for the walls, with slanted slate roofs. In 1950, the Burgin-Saulire gondola was built to link the resort to Courchevel. Lindsay's family continue to hold a financial stake in the resort. Lindsay's ashes and those of his wife are scattered on the Burgin mountain.
Méribel was a subsite and hosted some events of the 1992 Winter Olympics hosted by nearby Albertville. The resort host the ice hockey and the women's alpine skiing events. Until 2011, Méribel was the host to the Altitude Festival, with acts such as KT Tunstall, Marcus Brigstocke and Omid Djalili performing in the bars and nightclubs around the resort. For 2011, it has been announced that the festival will be moved to Austria, with the organiser Richard Lett citing a reduction in support from the Méribel Tourist Office.
The ski resort is part of the Trois Vallées ski area. The Three Valleys area comprises 180 lifts, 335 marked runs and over 130 km of cross-country tracks. The Three Valleys was expanded in 1996 to incorporate a fourth valley, though the area kept the name Trois Vallées. The area comprises the resorts of Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Les Menuires-Saint Martin, Val Thorens and Orelle.
The resort comprises the sub-villages of: Méribel-Mottaret, at an altitude of 1,750 m towards the head of the Allues Valley—served by the Plattiers gondola which provides access to neighbouring resorts Les Menuires and Val Thorens; Raffort and La Gittaz, which are served by the Meribel Olympic Gondola; Chandon, which has free bus access to resort; and Méribel Village at 1,400 m on the road to Courchevel 1850 at the bottom of the Lapin piste and start of the Golf Chair to the popular beginners skiing area The Altiport.
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Saint-Jean-de-Belleville bɛlvil]; Savoyard: Sin Dzan) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Les Belleville.
Climate
Les Belleville has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb). The average annual temperature in Les Belleville is 6.5 °C (43.7 °F). The average annual rainfall is 926.3 mm (36.47 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 15.1 °C (59.2 °F), and lowest in January, at around −1.3 °C (29.7 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Les Belleville was 32.3 °C (90.1 °F) on 7 July 2015; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −24.0 °C (−11.2 °F) on 12 January 1987.
Population
The population data below refer to the commune in its geography as of January 2023.
See also
Communes of the Savoie department