Utelle

Utelle
A view of Utelle from a nearby hillside
Coat of arms
Utelle
Location within Provence-A.-C.d'A. region Utelle
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement	Nice
Canton	Lantosque
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Bernard Cortes
Area1	67.97 km2 (26.24 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	693
• Density	10/km2 (26/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	06151 / 06450
Elevation	126–2,080 m (413–6,824 ft) (avg. 800 m or 2,600 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Utelle (Occitan: Uels) is a commune about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.

Geography

It is perched on a hill along the Vesubie Gorge not far from the Mercantour National Park.

Sights

Formerly an agricultural village planted with numerous olive trees, the village is near the Madonne d'Utelle, a chapel that serves as an annual pilgrimage site for local Catholics. In their 1997 book "The Templar Revelation," Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince mention (on pg. 82) "the old Templar town of Utelle, whose medieval houses still bear the esoteric sigils of the alchemists..."

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	506	—
1968	516	+2.0%
1975	451	−12.6%
1982	398	−11.8%
1990	456	+14.6%
1999	488	+7.0%
2008	693	+42.0%

See also

Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department

References

• INSEE

External links

• (English) (French) & (Occitan) Chimes from County of Nice : tirignoun (chime) from Utelle.