Ballaigues

Village center

Ballaigues is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

Geography

Ballaigues is located on 861 m above sea level. M., 3 km northeast of Vallorbe and 18 km west-southwest of the district capital Yverdon- les- Bains ( straight line ). The former street line village stretches in the Vaud Jura on the southern slope of the Seek - chain, high above the incised course of the river Orbe.

The area of ​​9.0 km ² large municipality area includes a portion of the Vaud Jura. The southwestern boundary runs along the Jougnena, which opens into the Orbe. The southern border is the Orbe, has created along a fault in the system of the Jura Mountains in the course of millions of years a deep valley. From this valley system, the communal land extends north across the slope of Ballaigues up on the anticline Suchet, on with 1'244 m above sea. M. the highest point of the municipality is reached. Here there is an extensive Jura mountain meadows with the typical tall spruce trees that are either individually or in groups. From the municipality surface 1997 9 % came from settlements, 49 % of forest and shrubs, 41% to agriculture and slightly less than 1% was unproductive land.

To Ballaigues include some individual farms, which are scattered through the Jura hills. Neighboring communities of Ballaigues are Vallorbe, Les Clées and Lignerolle in the Canton of Vaud and Jougne in neighboring France.

History

The first written mention of the village was carried out in 1228 under the name Ballevui; 1453 appeared the name Bella Aqua. Accordingly, the local name is of Latin origin and means beautiful water. During the Middle Ages Ballaigues belonged to the manor Les Clées. Since 1302 it made with the neighboring community Lignerolle own little rule, which was divided in 1604 into the individual towns. With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536, the village came to the bailiwick of Yverdon. After the collapse of the ancien régime Ballaigues belonged from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic to the canton of Geneva, who came up then with the enactment of the Act of Mediation in the canton of Vaud. It was in 1798 the district of Orbe allocated.

Population

With 973 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) Ballaigues one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Vaud. Of the 92.8 % inhabitants are French-speaking, 2.5 % and 2.2 % Italian- German-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Ballaigues amounted in 1850 to 530 residents in 1900 to 717 inhabitants. Then it rose to 1941 on 941 inhabitants. After a small decline in the following years it remained stable in recent decades.

Economy

Ballaigues was until the mid-19th century embossed mainly by agriculture village. Until the 19th century the city benefited from transit traffic through the pass of Jougne (later the main traffic was handled by Vallorbe ) and the cross-border trade. The industrial development of Ballaigues began shortly before 1800, when the Société des Forges du Creux was founded, the agricultural tools ( scythes, and later machines) produced. The operation was discontinued in 1956. Other important industries since the late 19th century, the watches manufacturing, a photo camera factory and the production of dental instruments. There is also a wine Wholesaler since 1790. Agriculture today has only a slight importance and concentrates on livestock and dairy farming.

Traffic

The community is easily accessible via. It lies on the main road from Orbe to Vallorbe or via the Jougnepass to Pontarlier in France. Since 1989, when the highway A9 was opened, the center of Ballaigues is relieved of the transit traffic. The A9 runs below the village with more leaning viaducts along the northern Talhangs the Orbe. By Postbus course, which runs from Orbe to Vallorbe Ballaigues is connected to the public transport network.

Attractions

Since the first mention of the place Ballaigues possessed a church. The present building of the Reformed Church of Saint -Jean -Baptiste was created in 1711 on the site of the medieval church. From the Roman road that ran through the village area, west of the village remains are preserved in the forest.

Gallery

Village shop

Hotel de la Croix d'Or

Personalities

• Louis Soutter (1871-1942), the Swiss painter