La Balme
| La Balme | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Savoie | |
| Arrondissement | Chambery | |
| Canton | Bugey savoyard | |
| Community association | Yenne | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 42 ' N , 5 ° 43' E | |
| height | 210-689 m | |
| surface | 9.40 km 2 | |
| Residents | 320 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 34 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 73170 | |
| INSEE code | 73028 | |
La Balme is a French commune of 320 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Savoie in the region of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It belongs to the canton of Bugey Savoyard in the Arrondissement of Chambéry and is a member of the Yenne community association .
geography
location
La Balme is located at 232 m , about 22 kilometers northwest of the prefecture of Chambéry and 68 kilometers east of the city of Lyon (as the crow flies). The village extends on the banks of the Rhône , which here forms the western border of the Savoie department . Neighboring communities of La Balme are Virignin in the north, Yenne , and Traize in the east, Loisieux and Champagneux in the south and Murs-et-Gélignieux , Peyrieu and Brens in the Ain department in the west.
topography
The 9.40 km 2 municipal area covers a flat alluvial plain on the left bank of the Rhône at the point where the Belley diversion canal flows back into the original river bed. The river, which initially faces west, bends sharply to the south at this point and delimits the municipality to the north and west. In the east, the communal soil extends to the top of a steep slope, behind which an approximately one kilometer wide ridge separates the plain of Yenne from the Rhône valley. On this ridge, the community reaches its highest point at 689 m . The sometimes very narrow municipal area extends for several kilometers to the south to a bend in the river, with which the Rhone flows back to the west. At this point the alluvial plain widens again and offers space for some hamlets and farms that still belong to La Balme.
history
The place name appears for the first time in 738 as balmae . In the Middle Ages, under the sovereignty of the Counts of Savoy, there was a small lordship in La Balme , which changed hands several times after 1581.
Attractions
The parish church of Saint-Maurice in La Balme dates from the 18th century, but houses a bell from 1630. The Gorge de la Balme ends directly at the village , a 200 m deep gorge in which the Rhone breaks through one of the smaller anticlines of the Jura .
population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1962 | 192 |
| 1968 | 141 |
| 1975 | 147 |
| 1982 | 155 |
| 1990 | 159 |
| 1999 | 178 |
| 2006 | 224 |
| 2011 | 263 |
With 320 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), La Balme is one of the small communities in the Savoie department. After the population fell sharply in the first half of the 20th century (in 1901 there were still 448 inhabitants), a significant increase in population has been recorded since the turn of the millennium. The local residents of La Balme are called Balméran (e) s in French .
Economy and Infrastructure
La Balme is still a predominantly agricultural village that has several small businesses in this sector. The employed, on the other hand, are commuters who work in the larger towns in the vicinity.
The village is located near the departmental road D1504, the former national road N504 from Ambérieu-en-Bugey to Chambéry and crosses the Rhone in the Gorge de la Balme . From it branches off the D1516, which crosses the municipality from north to south and connects with Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers . The closest connections to the A43 and A41 motorways are around 19 km and 23 km away, respectively.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ JJ Vernier: Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Savoie . Imprimerie Savoisienne, 1896, p. 218 (French, online on BNF [accessed January 19, 2014]).
- ^ Bell in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French).
- ↑ French Statistics Institute ( www.insee.fr )
- ↑ La Balme - notice communale. In: cassini.ehess.fr. Retrieved October 11, 2014 (French, INSEE population from 1968 ).
- ^ Complete dossier on La Balme. In: INSEE . Retrieved October 11, 2014 (French).