Plagne (Ain)
| Plagne | ||
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| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Ain | |
| Arrondissement | Nantua | |
| Canton | Bellegarde-sur-Valserine | |
| Community association | Pays Bellegardien | |
| Coordinates | 46 ° 12 ' N , 5 ° 44' E | |
| height | 560-922 m | |
| surface | 6.20 km 2 | |
| Residents | 132 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 21 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 01130 | |
| INSEE code | 01298 | |
 Dinosaur tracks in the rock near Plagne |
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Plagne is a French municipality with 132 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Ain in the region Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It belongs to the canton of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in the Arrondissement of Nantua and is a member of the Pays Bellegardien municipal association .
geography
Plagne is located at 780 m , about twelve kilometers northwest of the town of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and 39 km east of the prefecture of Bourg-en-Bresse (beeline). The small farming village extends in the French Jura on a ledge west of the deeply cut valley of the Semine (right side stream of the Valserine ), on the eastern slope of the Bois de Puthod .
The area of the 6.20 km² large municipal area includes a section of the Upper Jura. The area is occupied by a plateau inclined towards the east, which is subdivided by various short side valleys of the Semine. The eastern boundary follows the contour line of 700 meters (above the steep drop to the Semine) almost exactly. In the south, the municipal ban is limited by the steep slope that slopes down to the Cluse de Nantua. To the west, the community area extends over the wooded ridge of the Bois de Puthod , on which the highest elevation of Plagne is reached at 940 m .
In addition to the actual village, Plagne also includes the Le Chailley farm ( 780 m ) above the Cluse de Nantua. Neighboring municipalities of Plagne are Échallon in the north, Saint-Germain-de-Joux in the east and south and Charix in the west.
history
Plagne was mentioned in the 15th century as a hamlet of Saint-Germain-de-Joux. The separation from the mother community, to whose parish Plagne still belongs today, did not take place until 1845. The discovery of a very complete, fossilized dinosaur track on April 5, 2009 suddenly made the small, remote community known in paleontology . On a forest path in the municipal area that had been scratched up by the back of wood and washed free by the rain, regular depressions emerged, which researchers at the University of Lyon were able to identify as a dinosaur trail from the Jurassic age. The area was excavated and measured from 2010 to 2012.
population
With 132 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), Plagne is one of the smallest communities in the Ain department. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century, population growth has been recorded again since the mid-1980s. The locals of Plagne are called Plagnard (es) in French .
| year | 1846 | 1866 | 1901 | 1921 | 1946 | 1962 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Residents | 294 | 237 | 129 | 119 | 90 | 86 | 61 | 73 | 83 | 78 | 139 |
Attractions
At a forest path, that of the D49 between Plagne and Le Chailley branches and the Jura ridge Bois de Puthod opens, several fossilized dinosaur tracks are exposed ( location ). The longest of them measures 155 m and belongs to a sauropod . Their prints have a diameter of 1.20 to 1.50 m and are attributed to an animal weighing 30 to 40 tons. The trail is considered to be the longest known sauropod track in the world, which also has the largest prints. It exceeds the track in the Monumento Natural das Pegadas de Dinossáurios de Ourém / Torres Novas in Portugal by a few meters. The sauropod track is crossed by the trail of a theropod . Their prints depict the typical three-toed theropod foot and are not very pronounced, which indicates a fast-moving animal only a few meters tall. These traces were made around 150 million years ago when the area on the northern edge of the ancient sea of Tethys was populated by dinosaurs.
The responsible municipal association of the Pays Bellegardien has taken the first steps to make the site accessible to tourism (security, parking spaces, signage and a website). The brittle limestone uncovered during the excavations must be protected from the elements, a water-repellent resin adhesive was applied for this purpose. In addition, the entire exposed area is covered with a tarpaulin during the winter months and thus protected against snow and erosion.
Economy and Infrastructure
Until well into the 20th century, Plagne was a village dominated by agriculture and forestry. Even today, the residents mainly live from their work in the first sector. Some workers are also commuters who work in the larger towns in the area, mainly in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and Oyonnax .
The village is located away from the larger thoroughfares. The main access is from Saint-Germain-de-Joux on the main road D1084 (Bellegarde-sur-Valserine - Nantua, former national road 84 ). Another local road connection is with Échallon. The closest connection to the A40 motorway is around ten kilometers away.
Web links
- Dinoplagne information page of the Bellegarde and Region Tourist Office
- Explanation boards (PDF; 20.6 MB) along the dinosaur track
Individual evidence
- ↑ French Statistics Institute ( www.insee.fr )
- ↑ Plagne - notice communal. In: cassini.ehess.fr. Retrieved on June 3, 2015 (French, INSEE population from 1968 ).
- ↑ World's largest dinosaur tracks discovered. In: www.focus.de. Retrieved November 15, 2011 .