Villars-les-Dombes (, literally ''Villars

near NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a form ...

Dombes The Dombes (; Arpitan: Domba) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the province of Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of Ain, and bounded on the west by the Saône River, on the s ...

'') 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 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 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 ...

. Its people are known as ''Villardois''.

Geography

The town is located within Ain, half-way between

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 ...

(33 km) and

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...

(29 km), in the heart of the area known as the

, notable for its hundreds of lakes which are waterfowl habitats and are suitable for breeding fish. Its ornithological park,

Parc des Oiseaux The Parc des Oiseaux ( en, Park of Birds) is a zoological park located in Villars-les-Dombes in the department of Ain in France. The site is recorded in the and was opened in 1970. It is one of the oldest ornithological parks in France and brin ...

, is the largest in

. 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 ...

river forms part of the commune's south-western border, flows northward through the western part of the commune, crosses the town, then forms part of its northern border.

History

The lordship of Villars (of which archival evidence dates from 940) became, by marriage, the lordship of ''Thoire-et-Vilars'' in 1188, and in about 1400 its caput was

Trévoux Trévoux (; frp, Trevôrs) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Trévoltiens. It is a suburb of Lyon, built on the steeply sloping left bank of the river Saône. History In AD 843, the treaty ...

(the estate was managed from there). In 1565, Villars was promoted to a marquisate dependent on the house of ''Savoie'' (Savoy), a benefice of the Honour 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 ...

Geography

History

Population

See also