Labalme
Labalme is a commune in the French department of Ain, in the Rhône -Alpes.
Geography
Labalme is located on 586 m above sea level. Level, about 23 kilometers southeast of the city of Bourg -en- Bresse ( straight line ) in the Bugey in the southern French Jura Mountains. The area of 8.80 km2 municipal area comprises part of a ridge ( anticline ) between the valley of the River Ain and the Synklinaltal the rivers Oignin and Borrey. The ridge itself has a pronounced relief structure. At the southwest boundary of the municipality the escarpment a typical Reculée lineup in the Jura Mountains begins in the 300 m incised gorge of Cerdon. In the east limit the divisive divided by the pass Col du Sappel hills of the Montagne d' Oisselaz and Chaîne de l' Avocat the community. Especially the Chaîne de l' Avocat projects on steep, so that the community there reaches its highest point. Due to the porous calcareous seeps underground rainwater quickly and there are no surface watercourses.
Besides the village Labalme there in the community no further hamlet or farmsteads. Neighboring communities of Labalme are Ceignes and Maillat in the north, Vieu - d'Izenave in the east, Cerdon the south and west and Saint -Alban in the West.
History
During excavations in the nearby caves of Cerdon were 1914 tools and bones from the Neolithic Age ( Upper Paleolithic ) to days. On the communal land also of grave goods from the Hallstatt period. The origin of the place name from the Celtic, where balma cave means additionally informs the former importance of the nearby caves. In the Middle Ages Labalme formed its own little rule, which was under the Lords of Thoire -Villars. This product protected by a permanent house rule was one of about 1100 to 1536 of a family de la Balme, and the place was first mentioned in 1164. The Col du Sappel was secured with another solid house, so that the community is often referred to as La Balme- Sap ( p) el notarized. Towards the end of the 14th century the town came under the suzerainty of the Counts of Savoy, and with the Treaty of Lyon in 1601 she came to France.
Attractions
In the escarpment to the gorge of Cerdon and under the church floor of Labalme are the Grottes du Cerdon, a system of several partly connected for visits caves that can be visited during the summer months. The jobs created in the Quaternary Ice Age through underground rivers and then dried out caves were inhabited for a long time by people, such as large quantities testify ash and bones. Between 1933 and 1959, the large, consistently cool cavern for maturation of cheese was used. At the beginning of the 1980s, a large part of the cave system was made available for visitors. Meanwhile, among the caves with 25,000 visitors per year (as of 2010 ) of the ten most popular sites in the Ain département.
The Gothic village church in Labalme is from the 15th century.
Population
With 204 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Labalme one of the small communities of the department of Ain. After the population had decreased slightly in the first half of the 20th century (1901 248 persons were still counted ), it has been increasing since the turn of the millennium slightly.
Economy and infrastructure
Labalme was until well into the 20th century an embossed by agriculture village. Today, no more farms are located directly in the village, and the village has been transformed into a residential community, the employed work in the larger towns of the area.
The Department of Road D1084 through the town. It combines Nantua with Pont- d'Ain and is also part of the highway connection between Lyon and western Switzerland. The A40 motorway runs north of the municipal boundary, the next port is located 9 km from Saint -Martin- du- Frêne.