Virieu-le-Grand
| Virieu-le-Grand | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Ain | |
| Arrondissement | Belley | |
| Canton | Belley | |
| Community association | Bugey Sud | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 51 ′ N , 5 ° 39 ′ E | |
| height | 241–1,059 m | |
| surface | 12.55 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,081 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 86 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 01510 | |
| INSEE code | 01452 | |
| Website | www.virieulegrand.fr | |
Virieu-le-Grand is a French commune with 1,081 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Ain in the region Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It belongs to the canton of Belley in the arrondissement of Belley and is a member of the Bugey Sud community association .
geography
The community is located ten kilometers north of Belley in the Bugey in the southern foothills of the Jura . The village is located in the valley of the Arêne , a tributary of the Furans , at the foot of the Grande Montagne de Virieu ( 1056 m ) and Montagne de Sérémond ( 1040 m ) mountains .
In addition to the village of Virieu-le-Grand, the municipality also includes the districts of Le Murat and Mussignin . There is a train station on the Lyon – Genève railway line .
history
Virieu-le-Grand came to the county of Savoy in the High Middle Ages around 1070 . With the Treaty of Lyon , the Bugey passed to France in 1601 . Documentary mentions can be found for the first time in 1149 as Apud Viriacum majorem and in later years as Viriacus , Viriou (1356) and Virieu le Grand (1536).
The castle of Virieu-le-Grand was built in 1077 by Count Amadeus II of Savoy on the site of a former Roman temple. The castle was enlarged several times: in 1250 by Boniface of Savoy , Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1441 by Duke Louis of Savoy , and in 1636 by the Marquis Lévis de Chateaumorand (family d'Urfé). The castle burned down on April 18, 1726 and was not rebuilt afterwards.
From 1793 to 2015 Virieu was the main town (French: chef-lieu ) of the canton of Virieu-le-Grand .
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 854 | 879 | 874 | 920 | 922 | 949 | 1,042 | 1,174 |
With 1,081 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), Virieu-le-Grand is one of the smaller communities in the Ain department. After the population declined in the first half of the 20th century (in 1901 there were still 1207 inhabitants), the population has increased again since the mid-1970s. The local residents of Virieu-le-Grand are called Viriolan (e) s in French .
Architectural monuments
See: List of Monuments historiques in Virieu-le-Grand
Personalities
The writer Honoré d'Urfé was, among other titles, Seigneur of Virieu-le-Grand. He retired to the town several times to write, and in particular started his great shepherd novel l'Astrée there.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b É. Philipon: Dictionnaire Topographique du Département de l'Ain . Imprimerie Nationale, 1911, p. 465 (French, online [PDF; accessed January 4, 2014]).
- ↑ Histoire et Partimoine. In: official municipal website www.virieulegrand.fr. Retrieved June 8, 2015 (French).
- ↑ a b Virieu-le-Grand - notice communal. In: cassini.ehess.fr. Retrieved June 8, 2015 (French, INSEE population from 1968 ).
- ↑ French Statistics Institute ( www.insee.fr )