Montrond-le-Château

Montrond- le -Château is a commune in the French department Doubs in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Montrond- le -Château is located on 456 m, about 11 km south of the city of Besançon (air line). The village is located in the Jura, on the first plateau between the Jura - edge range in the north and the level of Malbrans in the south, at the western foot of the hill of Montrond.

The area of ​​10.90 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the cuesta landscape of western French Jura. The main part of the area is occupied by the plateau of Montrond, which is on average 450 m. It is (in particular the Grand Bois in the north) consisted partly of arable and meadow land, partly by forest. The entire plateau has no above-ground rivers, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground. In the midst of this plateau rises the hill of Montrond, representing a witness mountain the next higher layer level. With 527 meters, it is the highest elevation of Montrond- le -Château. In the far south, the municipality's area extends over a terrain level to the high surface area of ​​Malbrans ( to 520 m).

Neighboring communities of Montrond- le -Château are Arguel and Fontain in the north, Mérey -sous -Montrond and Villers -sous -Montrond in the east, and Malbrans Scey- Maisières in the south and Épeugney in the West.

History

The territory of Montrond was inhabited during the Gallo-Roman and Merovingian. First mentioned is the village in the mid- 12th century under the name Mons ratundus ( from the Latin Mons rotundus in the meaning of Round Mountain / hill ). Over time, the spelling on Montron ( 1233 ) and Montront (1480 ) transformed to the present Montrond, which is attested since the 17th century.

The beginnings of Montrond probably go back to the 11th or 12th century, when the area of the reign Scey separated and was elevated to its own rule. After the construction of the medieval castle on the Montrond in 1231, the rule established in the region. In 1674 the Castle of troops of King Louis XIV was occupied and demolished in the sequence. Together with the Franche -Comté Montrond came with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678 definitively to France. To avoid confusion with other communities of the same name, Montrond in 1923 officially renamed Montrond- le -Château.

Attractions

The village church was built in 1863. From the medieval castle from the 13th century on the hill Montrond ruins remain. The village is characterized by numerous farmhouses in the characteristic style of the Franche -Comté from the 17th to 19th centuries.

Population

With 575 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Montrond- le -Château is one of the small communities of the department of Doubs. After the population declined slightly in the first half of the 20th century (1886 364 persons were still counted ), a striking population growth was recorded since the early 1980s again.

Economy and infrastructure

Montrond- le -Château was until well into the 20th century through agriculture (crops, orchards and livestock ) and forestry embossed village. Today, there are some operations of small businesses, including in the fields of wood processing and construction. 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.

The village is located off the major thoroughfares on a secondary road, leading from Épeugney after Tarcenay. Another road connection with Malbrans.