Allemond (; spelled Allemont by the local council) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

region of south-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Allemondins'' or ''Allemondines''

Geography

Allemond is a small mountain village in the heart of the

Oisans L'Oisans () is a region in the French Alps, located in the départements of l'Isère and Hautes-Alpes, and corresponding to the drainage basin of the River Romanche and its tributaries (Eau d'Olle, Lignarre, Sarenne, Vénéon and Ferrand). Betw ...

in the valley of the Eau d'Olle, at the foot of the Belledonne mountains in the Grandes Rousses basin. It is located some 20 km east of

Saint-Martin-d'Hères Saint-Martin-d'Hères (; frp, Sant-Martin-d’Èra) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),Pontcharra Pontcharra (; frp, Pont-Charrâ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Isère Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population Personalities Pontcharra is the birthplace of former Formula One driver René Arnoux. Pierre ...

. Access to the commune is by the D526 road from the south which passes through the village then continues north along the eastern border of the commune before turning west. The commune consists of high mountains with forests on the lower slopes.Google Maps
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Localities and hamlets in the commune

* La traverse (1300 m high) * Le clot * La rivoire * La combe * Le Mas des Croze * Le village * Les grands champs * La ville * La fondrie * La pernière haute et basse * Pissevache * Farnier * Champeau * Le villaret * La drayrie * Baton (700 m high) * Coteysard * Le Mollard * Le Rivier * L'eau Dolle * Les 4 saisons

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

The first buildings were built in the town in the Middle Ages. Allemond-Fonderie

Until the 1960s the life of the people was very simple: they were mainly farmers and herders. The city also had mining activity under

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. It housed the Royal

foundries A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

in which ore from mines in the town - mainly silver, lead, and copper - were melted down. Part of the buildings from the former royal foundry long housed the hotel called "Les Tilleuls" (now closed). This hotel with its beautiful walnut staircase was bought in 1920 by a former mayor of the town (for 40 years). His two daughters, Marguerite and Raymonde Giroutru, local personalities, then controlled the propertry for a long time. It was said that

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

stayed at the hotel. In the late 1970s, the Grand Maison Dam project was launched, it was an economic windfall for the commune and the whole region. The project lasted 10 years and brought in hundreds of workers. The communes involved were able to invest in tourism and winter sports equipment so ensuring their future once the work was finished. Today the commune lives completely on tourism both in summer and winter.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Demography

In 2017, the commune had 971 inhabitants.

Sites and monuments

Religious heritage

The Church contains a Bronze Bell (1657) which is registered as an historical object.Ministry of Culture, Palissy Image:Eglise allemond.jpg, Allemond Church Image:Allemond_chappelle_de_baton.jpg, The Baton Chapel

Civil heritage

Image:Vieux_moulin_allemond.jpg, The Old Mill Image:centrale_edf_baton.jpg, The EDF Centre at Baton: Electricity plant dating from the beginning of the 20th century at an altitude of 1,300 metres Image:Mur_escalade_allemond.jpg, The ''Aiguille de l'Eau d'Olle'', a climbing wall 30 metres high - the highest in Europe *The Oven of faure *The tower

References

External links

Allemont official website

Allemond on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Allemont'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Isère Dauphiné