[2] The village of Lanslevillard is situated at an altitude of 1,480 m (4,860 ft), at the foot of the Mont Cenis pass, in Haute Maurienne, to the south of the Vanoise mountain range and 26 km (16 mi) north east of Modane.

According to the Canon Adolphe Gros,[3] the name of the commune and parish of Lanslevillard stems from the surname Lanzo, Lanz or Lans.

[4] The addition of the title Le villard - from the Latin villaris, villare, meaning a house in the country - to Lans seems to have been done in order to distinguish the parish from that of Lanslebourg.

Le Villar(d) was therefore added sometime after the 12th C. At the end of the 13th C, the parish is designated as Magiester Joannes de Lancio Villario (1293).

The territory of the Lanslevillard commune is home to two rocks bearing cup and ring marks, classed as historical monuments (Monuments historiques) since 1911: Before the Roman conquest, the upper valley of the Maurienne was populated principally by the Medulli people from as early as the 3rd century BCE.

This military victory caused an outpouring of joy in the villages of Lanslevillard and Lanslebourg, and, in reaction to the hostility of the Mauriennais, the revolutionary army deported the inhabitants to Fort-Barraux (Barraux) on the 19th and 20 April 1794.