Les Fins

Les Fins is a commune in the French department Doubs in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Les Fins is located at 875 m, 3 km north-east of Morteau and about 16 km west of the town of La Chaux -de-Fonds (air line). The village is located in the Jura: a scenic location on the sun-exposed slope on the northeast edge of the valley of the Val de Morteau, at the eastern foot of Mont Tantillon.

The area of ​​25.39 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the French Jura. The central part of the area occupied by the nearly 2 km wide valley of the Val de Morteau. This valley is drained to the Doubs by the brook Tanche south. To the south, the municipality area extends to the outskirts of Morteau and for a short section of the river Doubs.

The valley of the Val de Morteau is flanked on both sides by elongated ridges that form in geological- tectonic terms anticlines of the folded Jura and are oriented southwest-northeast direction according to the strike of the mountains in this region. To the southeast is the wooded ridge of the Bois du Geay, to the northeast of the amount of Meixner and Meixner -Jacques -Dos d'Ane ( 1085 m) continues. In the northwest part of the forested, partly lined with pasture ridge of Mont Tantillon, on the 1160 m the highest peak of Les Fins is reached rises. The northeastern conclusion of the Val de Morteau forms a 100 m high step which leads on to the plateau of the plateau of Maîche. This water- poor plateau averages 920 meters.

At Les Fins addition to the actual site include various hamlets and numerous individual farms, including:

• Renaud -du -Mont (850 m), the old village and church at the eastern foot of Mont Tantillon
• Les Suchaux ( 800 m) in the Val de Morteau at the eastern foot of Mont Tantillon
• Chez le Roi (819 m) ​​on the eastern edge of the valley
• Les Chézières (802 m) in the valley of the Val de Morteau
• Les Frenelots (790 m) in the valley of the Val de Morteau
• Les Combes (757 m) at the Tanche midst of the valley of the Val de Morteau
• La Tanche (772 m ) on the eastern outskirts of Morteau in the Doubs Valley
• Les Lavottes ( 938 m) on the high plateau of Maîche
• Les Lalliets ( 1052 m ) at the level of Meixner -Jacques

Neighboring municipalities of Les Fins are Le Bélieu and Noël- Cerneux in the north, Villers -le- Lac in the east, and Montlebon Morteau in the south and Four -Luisans in the West.

History

The area of Les Fins was reclaimed in the 12th century by monks of Cluniazenserpriorats Morteau. Its name is attributed to the fact that Les Fins marked the end of the Val de Morteau against the plateau of Maîche out. As a result, the village belonged since the Middle Ages to the rule Morteau, which initially was under the suzerainty of the Lords of Montfaucon, from 1325 to 1507 under that of the Counts of Neuchâtel and afterwards belonged to the Franche -Comté. Together with the Franche -Comté reached the village with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678 to France.

Attractions

The village church of Les Fins was built in 1825 in the Gothic Revival style, while an older chapel in Renaud -du -Mont is. On the plateaus, several farmhouses dating from the 17th to the 19th century are situated in the characteristic style of the Haut- Doubs.

Population

With 2938 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Les Fins is one of the medium-sized municipalities in the department of Doubs. Once the population has consistently had in the first half of the 20th century in the range between 1000 and 1200 people, a strong population growth has been recorded since the beginning of the 1950s, which continues today.

Economy and infrastructure

Les Fins was until well into the 20th century a predominantly by agriculture ( livestock and dairy farming ) and forestry embossed village. In the 20th century settled thanks to the proximity Morteau in Les Fins some farms the watch industry. Since the 1980s, have developed on the plateau above Les Fins and at La Tanche on the edge of Morteau several commercial and industrial zones. Here, companies in the watch industry, plastics processing, micro-mechanics and mechanical engineering settled. In addition, there are several establishments in the retail and shopping. Meanwhile, Les Fins has changed thanks to its attractive location and a place of residence. Many workers are therefore commuters who do their work in Morteau or even across the border in the Swiss cities of Le Locle and La Chaux -de-Fonds work.

The village has good transport links. It lies on the main road D461 which leads from Besancon via Morteau to La Chaux -de-Fonds. Further road links exist with Maîche, Villers -le- Lac and Four -Luisans. The operation of the narrow- gauge railway from Morteau after Maîche (1905 open ) with a railway station in Les Fins was set in 1952.