Uzelle
| Uzelle | ||
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| region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
| Department | Doubs | |
| Arrondissement | Besançon | |
| Canton | Baume-les-Dames | |
| Community association | Deux Vallées Vertes | |
| Coordinates | 47 ° 28 ' N , 6 ° 26' E | |
| height | 322-467 m | |
| surface | 11.75 km 2 | |
| Residents | 172 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 15 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 25340 | |
| INSEE code | 25574 | |
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Uzelle is a French municipality with 172 inhabitants (as of January 1 2017) in Doubs in the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté .
geography
Uzelle is located at 399 m above sea level, 14 km north-northeast of Baume-les-Dames and about 28 kilometers west of the city of Montbéliard (as the crow flies). The village extends in a basin on the gently undulating plateau between the river valleys of Doubs and Ognon , on the southwestern edge of the heights of the Grands Bois .
The area of the 11.75 km² municipal area covers a section of the undulating landscape between the Doubs and Ognon. The central part of the area is taken up by the wide Uzelle basin, which averages 380 m. It is mainly made up of arable and meadow land. Uzelle is crossed by a stream flowing from north to south. The spring in the center of the village gets its water from the distant Vosges and served as the basis for the first settlement. As a karst spring , the water emerges in the valley to the south-east of Uzelle in a funnel-shaped spring pot, but seeps into the ground again after a few kilometers. The Uzelle basin is flanked in the south by the heights of the Bois du Chardenoi (up to 440 m) and in the north by that of the Grands Bois , which is an extensive forest area. The highest elevation of Uzelle is reached here at 467 m. The community area extends to the west as far as the ridge of Nans ( 440 m ), from which there is a beautiful view of the valley of the Ognon.
Neighboring communities of Uzelle are Cubry and Abbenans in the north, Bournois in the east, Gondenans-Montby and Fontenelle-Montby in the south and Nans in the west.
history
On the Chouard hill above the village are the remains of a Celtic fortification of the Sequaner , who settled in Franche-Comté long before Caesar's time. Celtic barrows, which are therefore older than the La Tène period , can also be found around Uzelle. There is said to have been a Celtic spring sanctuary in the village, the remains of which are presumably hidden under the walls of the small manor house.
Uzelle got its name probably in the 7th century from passing Thuringians who settled here. On the way back they had set out to their old Thuringian settlement area from northern Italy, where they - together with the Lombards - tried to conquer their own kingdom, which was refused to them by the victorious and superior Lombards. The name Uzelle does not come from the Celtic Uchs, which means "high up", but from the Low German Hus (house), diminutive of "Hüsel". In the so-called Burgundy cemetery in the village, sarcophagi with very large skeletons (more than 1.80 meters) were found in 1856, to which Germanic grave goods had been added: amber jewelry or scramasax, which means that these graves are clearly not part of the Franconian, Burgundian or even Celtic culture are. In the archaeological museum of Besançon, visitors can still find a bronze bust of the "Dame d'Uzelle".
In the Middle Ages Uzelle belonged successively to the dominions of Montby, Granges and Villersexel. Together with Franche-Comté, the village finally came to France with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. During the French Revolution, the last nobleman, Dunod de Charnage, left Uzelle with his belongings and mistress and fled to nearby Switzerland. The mansion was later bequeathed to an officer of the Napoleonic Russian Army, after which it came into the possession of the Chief Justice of Baume-les-Dames . In 1906 a farmer named Prédine bought the property, including 70 hectares, whose great-grandson still lives on the same property in the former gardener's house. Today Uzelle is a member of the Deux Vallées Vertes municipal association .
Attractions
The Saint-Bénigne church was rebuilt from 1831 to 1832 on the site of an earlier church. The country chapel at the height west of the village was built in 1855 in honor of the Virgin Mary after Uzelle had been spared the raging cholera in the neighboring communities. The Grange de Vaureuge used to be a priory dependent on the Lieucroissant Monastery .
Lavoir in Uzelle
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population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1962 | 141 |
| 1968 | 172 |
| 1975 | 166 |
| 1982 | 180 |
| 1990 | 182 |
| 1999 | 156 |
| 2006 | 154 |
| 2016 | 171 |
With 172 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) Uzelle is one of the small communities in the Doubs department. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century (526 people were counted in 1881), since then only relatively small fluctuations have been recorded.
Economy and Infrastructure
Until well into the 20th century, Uzelle was mainly a village characterized 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 also turned into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who work in the larger towns in the area.
The village is located off the major thoroughfares on a departmental road that leads from Rougemont to L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs . The closest connection to the A36 motorway is around 13 kilometers away. Further road connections exist with Cubry, Fontenelle-Montby and Montby.
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Doubs. Volume 2, Flohic Editions, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-087-6 , pp. 1132-1134.
