Les Déserts

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Les Déserts
Les Déserts (France)
Les Déserts
region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department Savoie
Arrondissement Chambery
Canton Saint-Alban-Leysse
Community association Chambéry Métropole-Cœur des Bauges
Coordinates 45 ° 37 '  N , 6 ° 1'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 37 '  N , 6 ° 1'  E
height 636-1,845 m
surface 33.59 km 2
Residents 795 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 24 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 73230
INSEE code

Les Déserts in winter

Les Deserts is a French municipality with 795 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Savoie in the region of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It belongs to the canton of Saint-Alban-Leysse in the Arrondissement of Chambéry .

geography

Les Déserts is located at around 1000  m , around ten kilometers northeast of the city of Chambéry (as the crow flies). The scattered settlement community extends in the north-west of the Savoie department, in the south-western part of the Bauges massif , in the headwaters of the Leysse , between the heights of Mont Revard in the west and Mont Margériaz in the east.

The area of ​​the municipal area of ​​33.59 km² comprises a section of the solid mass of the Bauges. The central part is taken up by the high valley of the Leysse (tributary of the Lac du Bourget ), which drains the area to the south. The open valley basin is dominated in the east by the striking rocky summit of Mont Margériaz, on which the highest elevation of Les Déserts is reached at 1845  m . The northern end of the valley is the Col de Plainpalais ( 1173  m ), which connects to the Chéran valley . In the west the valley is flanked by the wooded height of the Nivolet ( 1547  m ). To the north, the municipal area extends over the plateau of La Féclaz and the Montagne de Lachat ( 1441  m ) to the extensive high plateau of Mont Revard ( 1537  m ). The western border always runs above the steep drop to the depression of Lac du Bourget. The municipality lies within the Regional Nature Park Massif des Bauges (French: Parc naturel régional du Massif des Bauges ).

The municipality of Les Déserts consists of different localities, hamlets and farms, namely:

  • Les Mermets ( 960  m ) on the southern slope of Mont Margériaz
  • Les Bouvards ( 1020  m ) on the southern slope of Mont Margériaz
  • Les Charmettes ( 1050  m ) on a ledge north of Mont Peney
  • Les Favres ( 1060  m ) on the eastern slope of the Nivolet
  • Le Lésine ( 1040  m ) on the eastern slope of the Nivolet
  • Les Droux ( 1020  m ) in the Leysse valley
  • Plainpalais ( 1040  m ) on the ascent to the Col de Plainpalais
  • Les Féclaz ( 1300  m ) on a high plateau south of Mont Revard
  • Le Revard ( 1500  m ) at the height of Mont Revard

Neighboring municipalities of Les Déserts are Montcel , Saint-Offenge and Saint-François-de-Sales in the north, Le Noyer and Aillon-le-Jeune in the east, Thoiry and Saint-Jean-d'Arvey in the south and Verel-Pragondran , Drumettaz- Clarafond , Mouxy and Pugny-Chatenod in the west.

history

The monumental cross on the summit of Nivolet

Les Déserts is first mentioned in a document in 1340 under the name Ecclesia de Deserto ; Ecclesia Sancti Michaelis de Desertis has come down to us from 1414 . The place name goes back to the Latin word desertus (abandoned, uninhabited, lonely). In the Middle Ages, from 1359 onwards, the place formed a small lordship that changed lords over the centuries through marriage, alliances and sales through to the end of the Ancien Régime .

Attractions

The village church of Les Déserts was built in the 19th century. The Notre-Dame-des-Neiges chapel (20th century) is in La Féclaz; another chapel is in Les Droux. A monumental cross stands on the summit of the Nivolet.

population

Population development
year Residents
1962 494
1968 467
1975 455
1982 511
1990 512
1999 662
2006 760
2016 780

With 795 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), Les Déserts is one of the small communities in the Savoie department. After the population declined in the first half of the 20th century, a significant increase in population has been recorded since the early 1980s.

Economy and Infrastructure

Until well into the 20th century, Les Déserts was a village dominated by agriculture , especially dairy farming and cattle breeding. Many employed people are commuters who work in the larger towns in the area, especially in the Chambéry area.

In the course of the 20th century, Les Déserts developed into a climatic health resort. Today the village benefits from both summer and winter tourism. Winter sports are mainly practiced in the area of ​​La Féclaz and on Mont Revard. In addition to alpine skiing on the slopes, the high plateau is suitable for cross-country skiing. There are several mountain railways and ski lifts on Mont Revard and on the western slope of Mont Margériaz.

The village is located away from the major thoroughfares on the D912 department road, which leads from Chambéry over the Col de Plainpalais and Lescheraines to Annecy . Another road connection is via Mont Revard with Aix-les-Bains . The closest connection to the A43 motorway is around 16 km away.

Web links

Commons : Les Déserts  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. A. Gros: Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu de la Savoie . Belley, Imprimerie Aimé Chaduc, 1937, p. 428 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ JJ Vernier: Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Savoie . Imprimerie Savoisienne, 1896, p. 368, 369, 661 (French, online on BNF [accessed January 19, 2014]).
  3. French Statistics Institute ( www.insee.fr )
  4. Les Déserts - notice communale. In: cassini.ehess.fr. Retrieved October 1, 2014 (French).
  5. ^ Complete dossier on Les Déserts. In: INSEE . Retrieved September 23, 2014 (French).