Lac de Sylans is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Le Poizat Le Poizat () is a former commune in the Ain department in eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Le Poizat-Lalleyriat.

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 ...

department,

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 ...

. It is significant for the ruins of one of the 19th century's largest ice harvesting factories and the occasional outflow of water in two directions.

Geography

The lac de Sylans fills part of the Nantua water gap, which was formed during the last glacial era. The formation of the lake itself is much more recent; it is the result of the collapse of the cliff on the Northern side of the valley a few centuries ago. This huge landslide partially blocked the valley between the ice factory and the source of the Doye, above les Neyrolles, blocking the river that was flowing along what is now the bed of the lake, causing the lake to form. Today the water percolates through the landslide debris to form the source of the Doye. In dry summers the level of the lake can fall by 5m, whereas during wet periods, the level can rise to a point where the water also flows out towards

Saint-Germain-de-Joux Saint-Germain-de-Joux () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France. The communes cooperate in th ...

and

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; frp, Bèlagouârda) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 11,326. On 1 January 2019, i ...

, at the other end of the water gap, via the Combet stream, which flows into the Semine then the Valserine, which flows into the Rhône.

History

Ice Harvesting Factory

The ice factory was built in 1865 after Joachim Moinat had the idea to use the very pure ice that covered the lake every year in his café. This purity meant the ice could be used as is without purification. To store the ice, he built a wooden hut. In 1875, a second building was erected. This one was equipped with cavity walls in which the cavity was filled with sawdust for better thermal insulation. In 1885, he sold the business to the ''société des glacières de Paris''. There followed, between 1890 and 1910, the construction of further buildings in wood then in stone. These building served as dwellings offices, a canteen, a stable and a repair workshop. Later when the Haut-Bugey railway line was opened, 20 to 30 wagons loaded with 10 tonnes each departed every day of the summer for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and even Alger. These loads were covered with a jute mat, straw and a tarpaulin for insulation. Losses were reasonable, as for 10 tonnes shipped, about 8 arrived in Paris. By 1880, the factory was producing 300,000 tons per year on average. Machines able to make ice from water appeared around 1900. The warmer winters of 1911 to 1913 and the First World War saw an end to production in 1917. Today, only a few traces remain of what was one of the largest ice factories of the 19th century. Some restoration has taken place, revealing how the warehouses might have been.

Transport Infrastructure

Running on each side of the lake are two important transport arteries. On the south side the Haut-Bugey railway line, initially a regional line from Bourg en Bresse to Bellegarde, but rebuilt in 2010 to carry TGVs from Geneva to Paris On the northern side the

A40 autoroute The Autoroute A40 is a motorway in France that extends from Mâcon on the west to Passy on the east, terminating not far from Chamonix and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The road runs through Bresse, the high southern Jura Mountains, northern Prealps a ...

connecting

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Northern Italy (via the Mont Blanc tunnel) to France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lac De Sylans Sylans