Alissas (; oc, Alissaç) is a commune in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 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 southern

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 ...

Geography

Alissas is located some 45 km south-west of

Valence Valence or valency may refer to: Science * Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms * Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory * Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...

and 5 km south-east of

Privas Privas (; oc, Privàs , also ) is a city located in France, in the department of Ardèche. With its 8,465 inhabitants (2019), it is the least populated prefecture (capital of a department). It was the location of the 1629 Siege of Priva ...

. It can be accessed by the D2 road from Privas, which passes through the commune and village and continues to Chomérac in the east. The D299 road also goes south from the village to Rochessauve. Most of the commune to the south-west and north is heavily forested, with areas of farmland in the south-east.Google Maps
/ref> The ''Ruisseau de Combier'' forms much of the western border before turning east and passing through the village. It then flows east, collecting many tributaries until it reaches the Rhone north of

Baix Baix (; oc, Bais) is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Baixois'' or ''Baixoises''. Geography Baix is located some 30 km south by so ...

. Many tributaries rise in the commune and join the Combier including the ''Ruisseau de Fontgrand'' from the north, the ''Gounier'' from the south-west, and the ''Ruisseau de Bouzarin'' from the south-east.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

The ancient village of Alissas is called ''Alissacio'' in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

and dates back to the 13th century with the first known traces dated in current sources from 1281.Medarus website
Like all other towns and villages it was not spared during the

wars of religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. It was sacked, pillaged, and burned many times by garrison troops from all sides. Its church was even sacked in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries Alissas had

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

gristmills A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

, and plantations of

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

trees that were greatly developed with silkworms since they are their favorite food. On 1 March 1862 the village was traversed by a railway line passing just above the old town and its walls. This line connected

Le Pouzin Le Pouzin (; oc, Lo Polzin) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of France. The comm ...

and there was a station at Alissas. The railway crossed the village passing over a viaduct built especially for this line, which was also the largest viaduct on the line. In figures the viaduct was 178m long with 12 arches, 11 columns, 2 abutments and a height of 18.60m. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

blew up the two arches closest to Privas to prevent German trains from running. It was rebuilt with the work completed 28 days after the end of the war on 30 September 1945. The line was closed down on 8 October 1950 for passenger traffic but continued to carry freight trains until 31 May 1994. Several years before this abandonment, however, the commune mobilized to protect its heritage status. There is a landscaped pedestrian path along all of the line. Today there are still some who envisage the reopening of the line.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Alissains'' or ''Alissaines'' in French.

Distribution of Age Groups

The population of the town is relatively young in comparison with the departmental average. Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Alissas and Ardeche Department in 2017 Source: INSEEÉvolution et structure de la population en 2017: Commune d'Alissas (07008)
/ref>Évolution et structure de la population en 2017: Département de l'Ardèche (07)
/ref>

References

External links

Alissas official website

Alissas on the old National Geographic Institute website

Alissas on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Alißas'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Ardèche