Lajoux, Jura, France

Lajoux is a commune in the French department of Jura in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Lajoux situated on 1171 m above sea level. M., making it the highest built-up area in the French Jura, about nine kilometers east of the town of Saint- Claude ( a straight line ). The village is located in the High Jura, in a hollow of the Hautes- Combes, west of the Valley of Valserine.

The area of ​​25.70 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the French Jura. The area is almost exclusively on the plateau of the Hautes- Combes (on average at 1200 m above sea level. M. ). The landscape is undulating and shows natural features such as ridges and troughs oriented southwest-northeast direction according to the strike of the Jura Mountains in the area. The hollows have no surface drainage, as the rain water seeps into the porous limestone substrate. At various points there are typical karst features such as sinkholes and karst fields. The plateau of the Hautes- Combes shows a loose structure of pasture and forest.

The southeastern boundary is the river of Valserine that flows here in an open valley ( Combe de Mijoux ) to the southwest and the plateau of the Hautes- Combes from the main chain of the Jura, Haute Chaîne separates. In a long strip, the municipality's area extends northeast almost to the border with Switzerland and always includes doing the right flank of the Valserine ( Côte de Mijoux ) and the adjacent ridge of the Cret Pela ( with 1495 m above sea level. M. the highest elevation of lajoux ), which is heavily forested ( Forêt du Massacre ). The area of Lajoux is part of the Parc Naturel Régional du Haut- Jura.

To Lajoux include the north of the Valserine situated part of Mijoux and numerous groups of farms and individual farms. Neighboring communities of Lajoux are Prémanon in the north, Divonne- les- Bains in the east, Mijoux and Les Molunes in the south and Septmoncel and Lamoura in the West.

History

Lajoux emerged as passort at a major since the Middle Ages transition from the region of Geneva and the Pays de Gex over the Col de la Faucille to Saint -Claude and on to Burgundy. The Forêt du Massacre northeast of the village got its name after the successful raid in 1535 by troops of the Duke of Savoy to around 600 Italian mercenaries, who were sent to reinforce the besieged by Savoy city of Geneva from the French king Francis I..

In the Middle Ages the valley of Mijoux Long an object of dispute between the abbot of Saint- Claude and the Lords of Gex, until finally in 1612 the border was definitely drawn along the course of the river Valserine what actually led to a division of Mijoux: The main part of the village remained at Gex, while the right part of the Valserine with the old, existing since the 14th century hospital to Lajoux and thus came to Septmoncel. It was not until 1839 Lajoux was separated from Septmoncel and raised to an independent municipality. Today Lajoux is the administrative headquarters of municipalities of Hautes- Combes.

Attractions

At the site of the former hospital chapel of Mijoux ( on the floor of Lajoux ) the present church was built in the 18th century.

Population

With 255 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Lajoux one of the small towns in the Jura. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century (1896 553 persons were still counted ), a population increase was recorded since the mid- 1970s again.

Economy and infrastructure

Lajoux was until well into the 20th century a predominantly coined by agriculture, especially livestock and dairy farming, as well as by the forestry village. In addition, there are today some of the local small business enterprises. Many workers are also commuters who engage in the larger towns in the vicinity of their work.

As a resort in a popular tourist area in the High Jura Lajoux now benefiting also from tourism, especially on winter tourism, when cross-country skiing can be operated on the plateau of the Hautes- Combes. The slightly steeper slopes to Lajoux are accessible by ski lifts for alpine skiing.

The village region has a quite well developed. It is located on a main road that leads from Saint -Claude for Faucille. Further road links exist with Lamoura and Les Moussières.