Gray-la-Ville
| Gray-la-Ville | ||
|---|---|---|
|
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| region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
| Department | Haute-Saône | |
| Arrondissement | Vesoul | |
| Canton | Gray | |
| Community association | Val de Gray | |
| Coordinates | 47 ° 26 ' N , 5 ° 34' E | |
| height | 187-238 m | |
| surface | 3.97 km 2 | |
| Residents | 955 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 241 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 70100 | |
| INSEE code | 70280 | |
Gray-la-Ville is a municipality in the French department of Haute-Saône in the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté .
geography
Gray-la-Ville is located at an altitude of 198 m above sea level, one and a half kilometers west of Gray and about 42 kilometers west-northwest of the city of Besançon (as the crow flies). The village extends in the south-west of the department, in the Gray plain, in the valley of the Saône .
The area of the 3.97 km² large municipality covers a section of the central Saône valley. The western and northern borders always run along the Saône, which here flows with an arch through an alluvial plain . The plain averages 185 m and has a width of about three kilometers. The community area extends from the river to the southeast over the valley floor, which is mainly used for agriculture, to the outskirts of Gray. In the far south-east the terrain rises slightly to a plateau made up of sediments from the Tertiary and Upper Jurassic periods . At 238 m, the highest point of Gray-la-Ville is reached here.
The hamlet of Essertey (195 m) on the southern bank of the Saône belongs to Gray-la-Ville . Neighboring communities of Gray-la-Ville are Arc-lès-Gray in the north, Gray in the east, Velet in the south and Mantoche in the west.
history
Traces of a Roman traffic route indicate a very early settlement of the area. Gray-la-Ville was first mentioned in a document in 887 as the property of the Archbishop of Langres. In the Middle Ages, the village belonged to the Free County of Burgundy and in that part of the Bailliage d'Amont . As a result, the fate of Gray-la-Ville was closely linked to that of the city of Gray. The village was founded in 1479 by troops of the French King Louis XI. devastated. Together with the Franche-Comté , Gray-la-Ville finally came to France with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. Today, Gray-la-Ville is a member of the communal association Communauté de communes du Val de Gray, which comprises 16 villages .
Attractions
The Saint-Maurice church with a flamboyant portal was rebuilt in the 18th century. The remarkable furnishings include a gilded, richly carved altar (18th century) and a statue of Saint-Jean l'Évangeliste (15th century).
In the center of the village is the lavoir (19th century) with a square floor plan, the roof of which is supported by ten columns. It once served as a well, wash house and cattle trough.
population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1962 | 628 |
| 1968 | 757 |
| 1975 | 969 |
| 1982 | 973 |
| 1990 | 1,064 |
| 1999 | 1,034 |
With 989 inhabitants (2007), Gray-la-Ville is one of the smaller communities in the Haute-Saône department. After the population in the first half of the 20th century had always been in the range between 420 and 480 people, the population continued to grow until the beginning of the 1990s. Since then, however, a slightly downward trend has been observed again. Gray-la-Ville belongs to the Gray agglomeration and has grown together almost seamlessly with the neighboring municipality of Gray.
Economy and Infrastructure
For a long time, Gray-la-Ville was primarily a village characterized by agriculture (arable farming, fruit growing and cattle breeding). Today there are various retail and service businesses for everyday needs. On the outskirts of Gray, commercial and industrial zones have emerged in recent years, in which companies for plastics processing, precision engineering and food processing have settled. In the last few decades the village has also turned into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who work in the larger towns in the area.
The place is off the major thoroughfares on a department road that leads from Gray to Apremont .
