Les Fourgs
Fourgs is a commune in the French department Doubs in the Franche -Comté.
Geography
Fourgs lies on 1090 m above sea level and is the highest municipality of the department of Doubs, about nine kilometers south-southeast of the town of Pontarlier (air line). The village street lines extending in the Jura, on a wide plateau between the Valley of Fontaine Ronde in the west and the Mont des Verrières in the northeast, at the northern foot of the Cret du Vourbey, near the border with Switzerland.
The area of 27.99 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the French Jura. The central part of the area is occupied by the high plateau of Les Fourgs, the average is 1100 m and is mainly composed of pastureland. The western boundary runs in the area of the slope, which leads on to the Combe de la Fontaine Ronde, which follows a major, the Jura crossing fault line. In the north, the limit is above the rocks of the Roche Sarrazine ( 1190 m). To the east, the municipality's area extends to the little in relief heights of Mont des Verrières ( 1216 m) and Mauvais Cret ( 1223 m) and to the south on the Cret du Vourbey on which with 1246 m the highest peak of Les Fourgs is achieved. The plateaus show a loose structure of pasture and forest. On the whole municipality there are no surface watercourses, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground.
At Les Fourgs addition to the actual site includes various hamlets, groups of farms and individual farms, including:
- Les Petits - Fourgs -du -Bas (1010 m) on the hillside east of the Combe de la Fontaine Ronde
- Les Petits - Fourgs - du Haut (1070 m) on the northwestern edge of the plateau
- L' Orgère (1120 m), new housing estate on the eastern outskirts
- La Haute Joux ( 1140 m ) on the plateau east of the village
- Les Granges Berrard (1180 m) west of the Mauvais Cret
Neighboring municipalities of Les Fourgs are Les Hôpitaux -Vieux in the south, La Cluse- et- Mijoux the west and north, Verrières -de -Joux in the northeast and the Swiss towns of La Côte- aux- Fées and Sainte -Croix in the east.
History
The municipality of Les Fourgs was committed very early and possibly inhabited since it was on a major traffic route through the Jura. The earliest finding is a hatchet, which was created in the Neolithic period. In addition, a Gallo-Roman fountains and Roman coins have been discovered. Is first mentioned Fourgs in the 13th century. Earlier this iron was mined and smelted out the town's name derives (four is the French term for a furnace ). It belonged since the Middle Ages to the rule Joux. Together with the Franche -Comté came Fourgs with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678 to France. Since 1999, Les Fourgs is a member of the comprehensive 19 villages municipal association Communauté de communes du Mont d' Or et des Deux Lacs.
Attractions
The village church of Les Fourgs got its present shape in the new building in 1831. Situated on a hill east of the village is the Chapelle du Tourillot, in 1925 donated by the residents because Fourgs had been spared in the First World War by the German troops.
Population
With 1239 inhabitants ( 1 January 2011) Les Fourgs one of the smaller communities of the department of Doubs. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century (1881 1187 people were still counted ), a population growth was recorded since the early 1970s, thanks to its beautiful location again.
Economy and infrastructure
Fourgs has long been a predominantly coined by agriculture, especially dairy farming and animal husbandry, as well as by the forestry village. In addition, there are now a number of companies of small and medium industries, including in the fields of wood processing and manufacturing of toys. Meanwhile, the village has also changed into a residential community. Many workers are commuters who engage in the larger towns in the vicinity of their work.
As a resort in a popular tourist area in the High Jura Les Fourgs now benefiting also from tourism. The community is mainly focused on winter tourism. Of significance of Nordic skiing ( cross-country) is also the alpine skiing. The slopes of the Cret du Vourbey be opened up by several ski lifts.
The village is traffic- technically quite well developed. It is located on a secondary road, leading from Pontarlier via Sainte -Croix to Yverdon -les- Bains.