La Balme-les-Grottes () is a commune 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. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Balmolans'' or ''Balmolanes''.

Geography

La Balme-des-Grottes is located some 32 km east by north-east of Lyon and 11 km south of Ambérieu-en-Bugey on the right bank of the Rhône. The Rhône also forms the departmental border between

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.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 it ...

. Access to the commune is by the D65 road from

Leyrieu Leyrieu () is a Communes of France, commune in the Isère Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Isère department References

Communes of Isère Isère communes articles nee ...

in the south which passes through the length of the commune and the village and continues north to join the D1075 west of

Vertrieu Vertrieu () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in th ...

. The D52B branches from the D65 in the commune and goes south to Saint-Baudille-de-la-Tour. The D52C also branches from the D65 at the same intersection and goes south-east to Charette. The commune is mixed forest and farmland with dense forests in the north-east.Google Maps
/ref> The Rhône river forms the entire western border of the commune with no crossing points anywhere in the commune. The commune is covered by a network of canals linked to the Rhône and the ''Ruisseau de Laye'' which is a minor loop of the Rhône.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

Neanderthal men from the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...

period left flint tools and food scraps in the La Balme caves. Around 15000/13000 BC, in the late Upper Paleolithic,

Cro-Magnon Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They ...

hunters did the same in the shelter of the cave: flints and bones of reindeer, ibex,

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...

, and horses have been found. From about 4000 BC, Neolithic farmers colonised the region leaving their polished axes, flints, and pots in Louvaresse and Travers. Collective graves and vases have also been found in the cave from that time. It was especially at the end of the Bronze Age that they left very important remains (1250-950 BC): numerous tombs with cremation urns and animal offerings have been found in crevices and under boulders in a large part of the cave. It is an underground necropolis of the Urnfield culture, now well-known to European specialists for its wealth of ceramic vases from a full scientific publication. Part of the archaeological material from all eras is displayed in the Heritage House at Hières-sur-Amby where it was sent in 1985 by the excavators.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,060 inhabitants.

Economy

* BioMérieux

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments: *Houses (16th-20th century) *The Town Hall / School at Route de Lagneu (1882) *The Chateau de Salette (13th century). The remaining buildings of the former Carthusian monastery of Salette. The facades and roofs of the chateau are from the 19th century. In October 1299 Dauphin Humbert I of Viennois founded a monastery for women of which three buildings remain. During the French Revolution the monastery was sold and is home for some time to an earthenware factory. The chateau was built around 1870-1880 and preserves some decorations from that time. *The Chateau d'Amblérieu (ruins) (14th century) *The War Memorial (20th century) *Mills (17th-20th century) *A Lavoir (Public laundry) (1879) *The Chateau de La Serve (1818) *The Chateau Delphinal (13th century)

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: *A Wayside Cross at Rue des Grottes (17th century) *The Favre family Tomb (20th century) *The Tomb of Eudoxie Gigard (19th century) *The Péricaud family Tomb (19th century) *The Cemetery (1865) *The Priory of Notre-Dame (1660) *The Chapel of Notre-Dame of the Grotto (12th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The Chapel contains a large number of items that are registered as historical objects. *The Parish Church of Saint Peter (12th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The Church contains a large number of items that are registered as historical objects.

Environmental heritage

*The Grotte de La Balme (La Balme Cave) is one of the

Seven Wonders of Dauphiné The Seven Wonders of Dauphiné are seven natural and man-made sites and monuments located in the Dauphiné former province of south-eastern France, and especially within the Dauphiné Alps, each with some attached legendary or mythical significanc ...

. It is a formation of an "amphitheatre of small basins". The caves were a hideout for

Louis Mandrin Louis Mandrin (pronounced lwi mɑ̃dʁɛ̃; 11 February 1725 – 26 May 1755) was a French smuggler (highwayman) from Dauphiné. Biography Mandrin has been called the Robin Hood of France. He became famous for his rebellion against the Ferm ...

. They were visited by François I and contain an apocryphal portrait of him. The caves contain several items that are registered as historical objects: **A

Sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

( Gallo-Roman) **A Funeral

Stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

( Gallo-Roman) **A Commemorative Plaque ( Gallo-Roman)

Notable people linked to the commune

* Laurent Clerc, founder of the first school for the Deaf in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, born on 26 December 1785 in La Balme-les-Grottes. *Jean Roux, priest of La Balme, left a pre-Revolutionary "Journal" of great interest.Marius Riollet: "Review of tre History of Lyon" Vol. X, 1911

References

External links

La Balme-les-Grottes official website

La Balme-les-Grottes on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''la Balme'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmelesgrottes Communes of Isère