Fons, Ardèche

Fons is a commune in the Ardèche, in the Rhône-Alpes region with 313 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011).

Geography

The community is located about five kilometers southwest of the cantonal capital Aubenas on the southeastern border of the Regional Park of Monts d'Ardèche, in the so-called Piedmont Cévenol. Fons is located at the termination of the valley of the river Ardèche. The western part of the municipal area is predominantly covered with forest, the eastern part of agriculturally used and is mainly drained by the Ruisseau de Valgrand that this then leads first in the Auzon and in the Ardèche.

Neighboring municipalities are:

  • In the North and East: Saint- Sernin
  • In the South: Lachapelle- sous- Aubenas
  • The west and north: Ailhon

History

The place name derives from the Latin fontana Fons = source from wells.

The Resistance is - according to the research of journalist Gabriel Domenech in 1950 - have used the 42-meter deep shaft of a mine in Fons to the disposal of the bodies of 292 people, mostly the killing of alleged collaborators and several German soldiers, as part of the cleansing to have been. The well is filled with quicklime and stones. In excavations by a company from Gleysal on behalf of the German War Graves Commission in 1959, 34 skeletons were unearthed. It is unclear how many bodies are still in the bay.

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