Belley () 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

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

department in 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 ...

History

Belley is of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

origin, and in the 5th century became an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

. It was the capital of the province of

Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon and Geneva. It is located in a loop of the Rhône River in the southeast of the department. It includes the foothills of the ...

, which was a dependency of

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

till 1601, when it was ceded to France. In 1385 the town was almost entirely destroyed by an act of incendiarism, but was municipalitysequently rebuilt by the dukes of Savoy, who surrounded it with ramparts of which little is left. Belley was the birthplace of the epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

Ecclesiastical history

Belley was the seat of the Bishop of Belley and the location of

Belley Cathedral Belley Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Belley'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and a national monument of France, located in the town of Belley, Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department i ...

. Belley is the home region of St.

Peter Chanel Peter Chanel (12 July 1803 – 28 April 1841), born Pierre Louis Marie Chanel, was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary or "Marists" and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the is ...

, the famous 19th-century Marist missionary martyr and proto-martyr of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

Population

Climate

Belley features an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(Cfb) but with strong continental influences due to its far inland position and its proximity to the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...

under the Köppen system. Both temperatures above and air frosts are common.

Economy

The town is famed for its

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

, ''la Tome de Belley,'' also known as Chevret or still "Le pavé d'Affinois". It is also at the centre of the Bugey wine region. It is also home to a sizeable

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

production unit producing compact excavators, Comatel and Ciat.

Personalities

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

and Alice B. Toklas lived at Bilignin near Belley through much of WW2.Life and Letters: Gertrude Stein's War: The New Yorker
/ref> Stein wrote 'Wars I have seen' as a diaristic account of that time. *French gastronome

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (; 1 April 1755, Belley, Ain – 2 February 1826, Paris) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of ''The Physiology of Taste'' (''Physiologie du Goût''), gained fame as an epicure and gastronome: ...

was born and lived in Belley and served as its mayor for some time. * French writer

Andrée Martinerie Andrée Martinerie (17 April 1917 – 1997) was a 20th-century French women writer, laureate of the prix des libraires on 1961. Biography An aggregée of classical letters, Andrée Martinerie began her career by translating important authors ...