Orgelet

Orgelet is a commune in the Jura department in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Orgelet is located in the French Jura approximately three miles west of the Vouglan at the foot of the 672 meter high Mont Orgier. ten kilometers north is the capital of the Jura, about 50 kilometers southwest away Bourg -en- Bresse.

History

Orgelet was founded in the 13th century by the Counts of Chalon. 1227, the city was first mentioned. John I of Chalon Orgelet made ​​the capital of his county and legal center of the region. The seat of judicial institutions awarded the town modest wealth. In 1267 he gave Earl the city the right to be able to collect their own taxes and let select a city council made ​​up of four consuls. Built in 1292 John I a hospital. Founded in 1342 by his son John II a mint.

Between 1349 and 1362 the plague raged in the region around Orgelet and depopulated the city.

Tristan, a son John II built from the city, and fortified them. From 1790 to 1795 Orgelet was the capital of the district of the same name.

1901, the city was connected to the railway network.

Attractions

The church of Notre -Dame is from the 13th to the 17th centuries. At the site of the present church was built in 1275 a chapel was incorporated into the fortifications. In the mid-15th century a new church, which was destroyed in a fire in 1606 was born. After the church was built in its present form. 1658 the tower was completed and got his bell. Worth seeing is the inside especially the organ, which dates from the 17th century. The fortified church has a 46 -meter long and 15 meter high central nave is divided by a 32-meter long transept.

Personalities

• Pierre François Xavier Bouchard (1772-1832), French officer, explorer of the Rosetta Stone