Étouvans

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

Geography

Étouvans is located on 360 m, about 8 km southwest of the town of Montbéliard (air line). The village is located in a basin south of the Doubstals, on the northern edge of the outermost ridges of the Jura.

The area of ​​6.56 km ² municipal area comprises a portion of Doubstals. The northern boundary runs along the Doubs, which flows here in an approximately 1.5 -mile-wide flat Talniederung to the southwest and is accompanied by the waterways of the Rhine- Rhone Canal. From the river, the municipality's area extends southward over the flood plain and a steep slope on the adjacent plateau, which lies at about 350 m. This plateau is the main settlement area, in particular the valley between the hills of Étouvans (405 m) and the plateau. To the south runs a road range of about 50 to 80 m height for the Tabular Jura plateau high above. Here is 476 m reaches the highest point of Étouvans. The plateau is covered partly of arable and meadow land, but also shows some of larger areas of forest ( Bois de Charmes and Bois des Murger ). The western boundary runs erosion valley of Combe d' Étouvans.

To Étouvans the settlement La Raydans (310 m) is on the southern edge of the valley of the Doubs. Neighboring communities of Étouvans are Bavans in the north, Dampierre -sur -le- Doubs in the east, Écot and Villars -sous- Écot in the south as well as Colombier- Fontaine in the West.

History

The local name ending in " -ans " indicates that Étouvans has been inhabited since the time of Burgundy (6th century). The place is first mentioned in 1181 under the name Estovans. In the Middle Ages belonged to two-thirds of the village to rule Dampierre -sur -le- Doubs under the suzerainty of the Lords of Neuchatel, while the rest was under the suzerainty of the Counts of Montbéliard. With the Peace of Nijmegen came belonging to the reign of Dampierre -sur -le- Doubs part of France in 1678. This led to the division of the community, since the rest remained in the county of Montbéliard. Only with the inclusion of this county in the French Republic also Étouvans 1793 reunited. Today Étouvans is part of the municipal association Communauté de communes des Trois Cantons.

Attractions

The church of Saint -Ferréol -et- Ferjeux was built in 1842-1847 in the style of Neo-Romanesque and has a remarkable altar from the 17th century, which was the chapel of a castle in Cubrial transferred here ( at Rougemont ). From 1860 comes the rectory.

Population

With 759 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Étouvans one of the small communities of the department of Doubs. Once the population has consistently had in the first half of the 20th century in the area of ​​490-580 people, a significant population growth was recorded from 1960 to 1980. Thereafter, a decline of about 15 % was registered before a stagnation occurred.

Economy and infrastructure

Étouvans was up to the early 20th century mainly by agriculture (crops, orchards and livestock ) and forestry embossed village. In addition, there are now several companies of local small businesses. Meanwhile, the village has also changed into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who do their work in the larger towns in the area and agglomeration in Montbéliard.

The village is located off the major thoroughfares on a secondary road that leads from Colombier- Fontaine after Dampierre -sur -le- Doubs. The nearest links to the A36 motorway is located at a distance of about 9 km.