L'Abergement-Clémenciat (; ) is a commune in the department of

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, 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 it ...

and the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

in eastern

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...

. The commune was established in 1857 by combining the two parishes of Abergement and Clémenciat.

Geography

L'Abergement-Clémenciat lies on the border between

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

and

Dombes The Dombes (; ) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the provinces of France, province of Burgundy (region), Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of France, department of Ain, and b ...

at an altitude of 206 to 272 meters. The commune sits on an area of 1,596 hectares. Other communes near-by include Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, Illiat, Sulignat,

Thoissey Thoissey () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in eastern France. Geography The Chalaronne forms the commune's southeastern border, then flows into the Saône, which forms its western border. Histo ...

Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne (, literally ''Saint-Étienne on Chalaronne'') is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Geography The Chalaronne flows northwest through the middle of the commune and crosses the village. Populatio ...

, and Dompierre-sur-Chalaronne. The closest big cities are

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Hydrography

*The

Chalaronne The Chalaronne () is a long river in the Ain department in eastern France. Its source is at Lapeyrouse, in the Dombes. It flows generally northwest. It is a left tributary of the Saône, into which it flows between Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne ...

flows west-northwest through the southern part of the commune. *The Glenne forms the northern border with the commune of Illiat. It empties into the Chalaronne at Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne *The Vernisson Canal forms the eastern border with Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne and it empties into the Chalaronne at Pontpeillon. *The Payon Canal crosses the ash ponds at Châtillon.

Toponymy

There are 4

communes 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 ...

with "Abergement" in their name. The other three are Le Petit-Abergement, Le Grand-Abergement, and

L'Abergement-de-Varey L'Abergement-de-Varey () is a commune in the department of Ain in eastern France. Geography The commune is located in the first foothills of the Bugey, not far from Pont-d'Ain. Highway 59 crosses the commune, which is situated on a hillside. ...

. It seems to designate agricultural concessions in the 11th-15th centuries.

History

It was once a large timber plantation.

Politics and administration

Since 2008, Daniel Boulon has been the mayor of L'Abergement-Clémenciat. He was re-elected in the 2020 municipal elections.

Population

Sights

* The Vieux Bourg (old town) has been classified as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

since November 18, 1994. All that remains of the castle is the ruins. The walls of the 14th century

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...

are visible. * A ''château'', built in 1700, rebuilt in the 19th century * A church, consecrated in 1868, built under the direction of Louis-Auguste Boileau, an architect of Paris. File:Site médiéval Vieux bourg Abergement Clémenciat 1.jpg, Vieux Bourg. File:Château Vieux bourg Abergement Clémenciat 3.jpg, Château Munet. File:Église Abergement Clémenciat 2.jpg, 19th century church. File:Monument morts Abergement Clémenciat 2.jpg, Monument to the dead.