Petit Croix
| Petit Croix | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
| Department | Territoire de Belfort | |
| Arrondissement | Belfort | |
| Canton | Grandvillars | |
| Community association | Grand Belfort | |
| Coordinates | 47 ° 37 ' N , 6 ° 58' E | |
| height | 336-376 m | |
| surface | 3.79 km 2 | |
| Residents | 299 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 79 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 90130 | |
| INSEE code | 90077 | |
 Petit-Croix town hall and school building |
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Petit-Croix (German formerly Small Cross ) is a French commune in the department Territoire de Belfort in the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté .
geography
Petit-Croix is located at 357 m above sea level, about nine kilometers east-southeast of the city of Belfort (as the crow flies). The former street-line village extends in the plains of the Burgundian Gate , on a plateau that adjoins the Madeleine valley to the east , opposite Novillard.
The area of the 3.79 km² municipal area includes a section of the landscape in the area of the Burgundian Gate (Trouée de Belfort) with only weak relief. The western border mostly runs along the Madeleine, which meanders through an approximately 400 m wide valley floor and provides drainage over the Bourbeuse to the Allaine . From the course of the river the community area extends east to the adjacent plateau, which averages 360 m. It is partly covered with arable and meadow land, partly with forest. To the north, the municipality extends into the extensive forest area of the Bois de Bessoncourt , in which the highest elevation of Petit-Croix is reached at 376 m.
Neighboring communities of Petit-Croix are Bessoncourt and Frais in the north, Foussemagne , Cunelières and Montreux-Château in the east, Novillard in the south and Fontenelle in the west.
history
Petit-Croix is first mentioned in writing in 1105 in a document for the Froidefontaine priory under the name Pilicors . The names Petit-Croix (1295), Petit Cropt (1390), the Germanized Bittikropff (1441), Piticorp (1492) and Petitcrocq (1613) appeared later . The village belonged as a fief partly to the County of Belfort and partly to the lordship of Montreux. In the middle of the 14th century it came under the sovereignty of the Habsburgs. Together with the Sundgau , Petit-Croix came to the French crown with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Since 1793 the village has belonged to the Haut-Rhin department , but in 1871 it remained as part of the Territoire de Belfort, unlike the rest of Alsace, in France. On August 31, 1915, Adolphe Pégoud , an aviation pioneer and fighter pilot who was shot down here, was killed near Petit-Croix .
Attractions
The Notre-Dame de la Nativité church was rebuilt in 1852.
See also: List of Monuments historiques in Petit-Croix
- Notre-Dame de la Nativité church
population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1962 | 154 |
| 1968 | 164 |
| 1975 | 222 |
| 1982 | 260 |
| 1990 | 308 |
| 1999 | 307 |
| 2016 | 298 |
With 299 inhabitants (January 1, 2017), Petit-Croix is one of the small communities in the Territoire de Belfort department. After the population had decreased in the first half of the 20th century (267 people were still counted in 1896), a significant increase in population has been recorded since the early 1970s.
Economy and Infrastructure
Until well into the 20th century, Petit-Croix was a village dominated by agriculture (arable farming, fruit growing and cattle breeding) and forestry. In addition, there are now some local small businesses. In the meantime the village has turned into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who go to work in the larger towns in the area and in the Belfort agglomeration.
The village is located away from the major road connections on a department road that leads from Montreux-Château to Chèvremont. The closest connection to the A36 motorway is around nine kilometers away. Further road connections exist with Foussemagne and Novillard.
Petit-Croix has a train station on the Paris – Mulhouse line , where the TER Alsace and TER Franche-Comté trains stop .
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Territoire de Belfort. Flohic Editions, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-84234-037-X , p. 157.
