Provenchères-sur-Fave (, literally Provenchères on Fave) is a former commune in the Vosges department in northeastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Provenchères-et-Colroy. Inhabitants are called Provenchérois. Provenchères-sur-Fave should not be confused with Provenchères-lès-Darney in the same department. Geography The population of the commune is divided between the village of Provenchères and surrounding hamlets such as Brafosse. As its name indicates, the commune is positioned beside the river Fave, on its left bank. The Fave is a tributary of the Meurthe. Provenchères-sur-Fave is on the western side of the Vosges Mountains. On the horizon the neighbouring conifer dressed hills of triassic sandstone stand out clearly: to the west the Ormont Mountain has its peak, at 900 meters, well clear of the tree line. The Spitzemberg at just 640 meters which at one time hosted an observation fortress dominates the valley: further along the same range are the isolated Voyemont (793 meters) and the high plateau of Climont (965 meters) towards the north-east. Nevertheless, within the territory of the commune itself stretched between the Fave Valley and the foot of the Spitzemberg, the altitude rises only to 651 meters, above the hamlet of Truches, and near to the old road connecting with the Grande Fosse pilgrimage route. The village is crossed by the national road RN 420 which connects it with Saint-Dié some to the southeast and, via a not particularly direct crossing of the Vosges Mountains, Strasbourg to the north-east. The western access point to the recently reopened Tunnel Maurice-Lemaire through the mountains towards Sélestat is some to the south-east. The commune is fully within the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park. The name Provenchères-sur-Fave may be identified with "Pervincaria", mentioned in rough Latin notes from the thirteenth century. Subsequent names include Provencheriae, Provenchères and, in the nineteenth century, Provenchères-en-Vosges. History Seventeenth century wars including, most destructively, the Thirty Years' War and the invasions of France's allies, the Swedes, led to hunger and plague. The early decades of the century also seem to have seen an above average level of poor harvests caused by bad weather: in Provenchères recorded deaths greatly outnumbered recorded births during the middle decades of the century, and there is also evidence of people simply moving away from the devastated region. Around 1660 the parish of Provenchères numbered sixty families, most of them much impoverished. By 1700, however, there were approximately