Charquemont

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

Geography

Charquemont is located on 860 m, 5 km south of Maîche and about 12 km north of the Swiss town of La Chaux -de-Fonds (air line). The village is located in the Jura, in the midst of the vast plateau of Maîche north of the deep valley of the Doubs.

The main part of the 21.44 km ² large municipality is located, on average 850 m, on the weak in relief plateau Maîche. It is mainly composed of meadow and pasture land, but also shows some of larger forest areas, in particular the Grove of Les Rachottes south of the village. The plateau has no above-ground rivers, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground. The northern boundary runs on the large hill of Les Essarts ( 934 m). In the south the plateau is bounded by an elongated ridge that culminates Peu de Grueresse on. Here the highest elevation of Charquemont is achieved with 1043 m.

To the south of this ridge drops steeply to a canyon cut into the Jura plateaus valley of the Doubs. The predominantly forested valley slopes are traversed by various distinctive Kalkfelswänden, including those of Les Echelles de la Mort. In the south and southeast, the border is always along the Doubs, which flows here through a rough, wild valley to the northeast.

To Charquemont next to the village itself includes several hamlets and numerous individual farms, including:

  • Combe -Saint -Pierre ( 865 m ) at the edge of the plateau on the northwest foot of the Peu de Grueresse
  • Creux de Charquemont (880 m) on the plateau on the southern edge of Les Rachottes
  • Vaudey ( 931 m) on a terrace south of the Peu de Grueresse, high above the valley of the Doubs
  • Le Boulois (914 m) on a terrace east of the Peu de Grueresse, high above the valley of the Doubs

Neighboring communities of Charquemont are Fournet- Roche Blanche in the South, Les Écorces in the west, and Maîche Cernay- l'Église in the north, and Damprichard Charmauvillers to the northeast and the Swiss towns Manderscheid and Les Bois in the southeast.

History

The area of Charquemont was cleared in the 13th century and brought under cultivation. First mentioned in a document of the place is in 1339. He belonged in the Middle Ages under the jurisdiction of Maîche. Together with the Franche -Comté Charquemont came with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678 to France. Since the French Revolution also Fournet -Blanche Roche was part of the municipality. However, this was removed in 1874 by Charquemont and raised to an independent municipality. Additional area change occurred in 1972 when the previously independent scattered settlement Le Boulois was incorporated into Charquemont.

The economic life was dominated for a long time by agriculture ( dairy farming, animal husbandry, farming ) and forestry. Already in the middle of the 18th century watchmaking has been introduced. The watches were initially mainly in homework, made ​​from about the middle of the 19th century in factories. So Charquemont developed in the 19th century became an important center of the watch industry in the French Jura. A better transport links was the village in 1902 with the opening of the narrow gauge railway (Le Tacot ), the wrong Morteau after Maîche. The operation of this railway line, however, was set in 1952.

Attractions

The church of Saint -Étienne was built in the 16th century in the late Gothic style. The current bell tower was added in the 19th century. At that time he was still equipped with an onion dome, now he wears a pointed helmet. The church was extensively restored in 1932 and enlarged. Open field, southeast of the village is the chapel of Saint -Roch.

Population

With 2491 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Charquemont belongs to the medium-sized municipalities in the department of Doubs. Already in the middle of the 19th century the number of Charquemont because of its importance as the site of the watch industry almost 2000 inhabitants. After the population had been in the first half of the 20th century, mostly in the range of about 1800 people, a continuous population growth was recorded from 1950 to the mid-1970s. With nearly 2500 inhabitants, the previous high was reached in 1975. Thereafter, the population increased due to the crisis in the watch industry clearly off to remain at an approximately constant level since the mid 1980s.

Economy and infrastructure

Even today, the economic structure of Charquemont is marked by the watch industry. In this industry, which includes the company Herbelin, Haenni, Rubis Précis, Fresard, TWC Clyda, Saint- Honoré Paris and Perrenoud, approximately 500 people are employed. Other important industries are the micro-mechanics, construction and the timber industry. In the Doubs Valley is the hydro power plant refrain.

Charquemont is located in a popular tourist area in the High Jura and is now benefiting also from tourism. The community is geared both to the summer tourism (hiking, cycling, fishing) as well as on winter tourism ( alpine and Nordic skiing ). The ski resort of Combe -Saint -Pierre at the western foot of the Peu de Grueresse is equipped with three lifts. For the Nordic skiing are in good snow conditions around 40 km of cross- country ski trails are available.

The village has good transport links. It lies on the secondary road D464 which leads from Maîche to La Chaux -de-Fonds. Further road links exist with Le Russey, Frambouhans and Damprichard.

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