IL ÉTAIT UNE FOIS SAINT BERTRAND DE COMMINGES - Haute Garonne

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is a French Pyrenean commune located in the Haute-Garonne department, in the Occitanie region. Its inhabitants are called Commingeois. The commune lies at the foot of the Pyrenees, in the Comminges region, 18 km southwest of Saint-Gaudens. It borders the Hautes-Pyrénées department. Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges boasts ancient ruins (including the forum baths) and a medieval cathedral. Before the Roman conquest, the region was inhabited by the Convenae (an Ibero-Aquitanian people, distinct from the Gauls). The city of the Convenae, which later became Comminges, was founded by Pompey at the end of the Sertorian War. Around 72 BC, the site became Roman, under the name Lugdunum Convenarum. Later, Herod Antipas is said to have settled there in exile, accompanied by Herodias and her daughter Salome, who left their mark on the local imagination.