Cerdon (Ain)
| Cerdon | ||
|---|---|---|
.svg)
|
|
|
| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Ain | |
| Arrondissement | Nantua | |
| Canton | Pont d'Ain | |
| Community association | Rives de l'Ain-Pays du Cerdon | |
| Coordinates | 46 ° 5 ' N , 5 ° 28' E | |
| height | 286-992 m | |
| surface | 12.30 km 2 | |
| Residents | 783 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 64 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 01450 | |
| INSEE code | 01068 | |
 View of Cerdon |
||
Cerdon is a French municipality with 783 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Ain in the region Auvergne Rhône-Alpes ; it belongs to the Arrondissement of Nantua and the canton of Pont-d'Ain .
geography
The municipality of Cerdon is located at 332 m in the Bugey , between Nantua and Pont-d'Ain in the southern French Jura mountains. The area of the 12.3 km 2 municipal area includes a gorge deepened about 300 m into one of the Jura ridges ( anticline ), a typical Reculée formation in the Jura Mountains. Here, the municipal boundary follows the edge in many places, and the actual place lies in the valley floor. The Veyron brook drains the gorge to the west and flows into the Ain at Poncin . At the opposite end in the steep valley head open caves, the Grottes du Cerdon , which lead several hundred meters into the karst rock . In the east, however, the community area achieved at an altitude of 992 m , the Chaîne de l'Avocat , a ridge, of the Ain Valley and its side valleys by following Synklinaltal the rivers Oignin and Borrey separates.
The development of Cerdon follows the structure of the various side valleys that unite in the area of the village. The district in the eastern side valley bears the name La Suisse . The hamlet of Préau is located on the western edge of the municipality in the gorge of the Morena stream . The neighboring municipalities are Saint-Alban in the north, Labalme and Vieu-d'Izenave in the east, Izenave , Corlier and Boyeux-Saint-Jérôme in the south and Mérignat and Poncin in the west.
history
During excavations in the caves of Cerdon in 1914 tools and bones from the Neolithic ( Upper Palaeolithic ) came to light . Further investigations revealed a whole sequence of cultural layers ( Straten ) from the Late Bronze Age , Latène Age and Roman Age (third century).
In the Middle Ages, Cerdon formed its own small lordship, the name of which goes back to the family name of the original lords and which was subordinate to the lords of Coligny from around 1150 at the latest . Cerdon was first mentioned in documents from 1215. At this time, Humbert II von Thoire married Alix de Coligny, who brought the lands of Cerdon as a dowry to the marriage. Two years later they allowed the Carthusians of Meyriat to grow wine in the Cerdon area; in 1260 certain freedoms followed for the residents. Cerdon then remained under the rule of Thoire-Villars until it was sold to the Counts of Savoy in 1402 . With the Treaty of Lyon , the entire Bugey came to France in 1601.
In 1823 Jeanne-Marie Chavoin and the pastor there , Jean-Claude Colin, founded the Cerdon Congregation of the Sœurs Maristes.
A copper smelter was built in Cerdon in 1854 and operated with water power in La Suisse ( Lage ). In 1900 it switched to steam engines and employed up to 80 workers. After copper processing had become unprofitable, it was continued as a museum from 1980 to 2010. The buildings and facilities have been protected as a monument historique since 2013 .
As part of an extensive network of interurban trams in the Ain, the Tramways de l'Ain , Cerdon was the end point of a 25 km long connection to Ambérieu-en-Bugey in 1897 , which was in operation until 1951.
During the German occupation in World War II , Cerdon was repeatedly the target of actions against the Maquis . In February and July 1944, for example, the place was searched and individuals arrested and houses set on fire. A memorial and a burial ground were created to commemorate the town in the 1950s.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Residents | 709 | 724 | 652 | 647 | 672 | 672 | 766 | 741 |
With 783 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), Cerdon is one of the small communities in the Ain department. After the number of inhabitants had continuously decreased in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century (1770 inhabitants were counted in 1861), it has fluctuated around today's value since the 1960s. The local residents of Cerdon are called Cerdonnais (es) in French .
Attractions
The view of the village, which is integrated into the bottom of the gorge, is already a sight. The slopes are partially wooded or planted with vineyards, and rock formations such as Mont Carmier , Mont Chatel or Rocher de St. Alban tower over the village. Up the valley from Préau there is a small waterfall, the Cascade de la Fouge ( Lage ).
The Grottes du Cerdon ( Lage ), a system of several caves, some of which are connected for visiting purposes, are located on the edge of the gorge of Cerdon and mostly below the municipal floor of Labalme . The caves, which were created in the Quaternary Ice Age by underground rivers and then dried up, were inhabited by people for a long time, as evidenced by large amounts of remains of ash and bones. Between 1933 and 1959, the large, continuously cool cavern was used to ripen cheese. Finally, in the early 1980s, a large part of the cave system was made accessible to visitors. With 25,000 visitors per year (as of 2010), the caves are now among the ten most popular attractions in the Ain department.
The Château d'Épierre ( Lage ) above Préau is a medieval wine cellar from the 12th and 13th centuries that belonged to the Carthusians of Meyriat. The vaulted cellar is located on the lower floor, two floors above were changed or added in the 16th century. A fire destroyed parts of the upper floors again. The building has been inscribed as a monument historique since 2005. In the La Suisse district there is also a multi-storey house from the 15th century ( location ). From a castle La Batie ( location ) at the top of Reculée ruins still exist.
The parish church of Cerdon is dedicated to John the Baptist and was built as a collegiate church in 1479 . It lies on a hill above the village center and was extensively rebuilt and expanded in the 18th century ( location ).
The memorial dedicated to the Maquis des Ain and the Resistance ( Mémorial des maquis de l'Ain et de la Résistance , Lage ) is located on a narrow curve of the main road D1084 called Pont d'Enfer at a point where one of the first Maquis is -Groups formed. The memorial was inaugurated in 1951 and consists of a 17 meter high stone sculpture and shows a woman who frees herself from a chain. Next to it is a cemetery in which 88 maquis and victims of the occupation are buried.
Architectural monuments
See: List of Monuments historiques in Cerdon (Ain)
Economy and Infrastructure
Cerdon was and is shaped by viticulture . The Poulsard and Gamay grape varieties are grown on the south-facing slopes above the village , from which a rosé sparkling wine with around 8% alcohol is produced under the protected designation of origin Cerdon . Those who are not employed in viticulture are mostly commuters who work in the larger towns in the area.
The department road D1084, the old trunk road N84 from Lyon to Geneva , leads through Cerdon and uses the side valley at La Suisse to overcome the height difference of the gorge walls. A side road connects Cerdon directly with Ceignes on a steeper profile . The A40 motorway runs north of the municipality, the nearest connection is twelve kilometers away in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne .
In Cerdon there is a state école primaire (elementary school with an integrated preschool ).
Personalities
- Abraham de Vermeil (1555-1620), poet
- Jean-Baptiste Goiffon (1658–1730), medic and botanist
- Jean-Claude Colin (1790–1875), founder of the Marist Order
- Marie Philibert Constant Sappey (1810–1896), anatomist and lymphatic vessel specialist
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Géologie du Bugey chp. 3: Le center du Bugey (PDF; 4.2 MB) by J. Beauchamp (French, accessed February 2014).
- ^ André Buisson: Carte Archéologique de la Gaule - Ain 01 . Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres , 1990, ISBN 2-87754-010-3 , pp. 121 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ a b c É. Philipon: Dictionnaire Topographique du Département de l'Ain . Imprimerie Nationale, 1911, p. 78 (French, online [PDF; accessed January 4, 2014]).
- ↑ ACN De Lateyssonnière: Recherches historiques sur le département de l'Ain. 5 vols . 1838, p. 172, 229 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Les Sœurs Maristes: Origines et expansion , accessed February 5, 2018.
- ↑ La cuivrerie de Cerdon. Cuivrerie de Cerdon, accessed August 9, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Décret nr 2014-0107, p. 7804. In: Légifrance . Retrieved August 9, 2014 (French).
- ↑ French Statistics Institute ( www.insee.fr )
- ↑ Cerdon - notice communale. In: cassini.ehess.fr. Retrieved on June 16, 2015 (French, INSEE population from 1968 ).
- ↑ Marc Dazy: 525,000 visiteurs à Ars-sur-Formans: la consécration du tourisme religieux. In: Le Progrès. Retrieved February 7, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Château d'Epierre in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French).
- ^ Medieval house in La Suisse in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French).
- ↑ See the website of the tourist office .
- ↑ Décret no 2011-1097. In: Légifrance . Retrieved February 18, 2014 (French).