Éternoz () is a former commune in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

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 ...

in eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was merged with Saraz to form

Éternoz-Vallée-du-Lison Éternoz-Vallée-du-Lison (, ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern France. It was formed on 1 January 2025, with the merger of Éterno ...

on 1 January 2025.

Geography

Eternoz is 26 kilometres from Besancon, the department capital. It sits on the second plateau of the Jura massif at an altitude of . The River Vau passes through the village and plunges down a 40 meter waterfall on the edge of the village before joining the river Lison. In 1973, the commune Éternoz absorbed the following former communes: * Alaise (42 inhabitants in 2025) * Coulans-sur-Lizon (22 inhabitants) * Doulaize (20 inhabitants) * Refranche (18 inhabitants)

Notable buildings

The parish church, dedicated to Saint Laurent, was built in 1804. It has a single nave and belltower, with a round dome that is unusual in the region. The chateau of Refranche was built in the 16th century by a branch of the Eternoz family. Until recently, only part of the main building and a tower remained, but it has recently been renovated. For three generations, th
Société Garnier
had its workshop in Eternoz. In 1913, a local blacksmith, Jean Garnier, founded a forge that made and sold ploughs. By 1953, the business had sold 5000 ploughs, but this progressively gave way to the sale of more innovative and diverse farm machinery from the 1960s onwards. The resulting expansion led to the decision, in 2008, to move the company to new and larger premises 15 km away in Levier.

Notable people

* Alfred Billot (1925-1965), was

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. * Marie-Léone Bordy (1921-1992), a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

of the congregation of the Filles de Notre-Dame du Sacré-cœur in

Issoudun Issoudun () is a commune in the Indre department, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is also referred to as ''Issoundun'', which is the ancient name. Geography Location Issoudun is a sub-prefecture, located in the eas ...

, was assassinated in

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Cameroun Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. * Auguste Castan,

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

, historian, and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

; excavated Roman remains in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

on the site of which a square is named in his honour. * Édouard Clerc,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. *

Georges Colomb Marie-Louis-Georges Colomb (Lure, Haute-Saône, 25 May 1856 – Nyons, 3 January 1945) was a French botanist, science populariser, and a pioneer of French comics, known as ''Franco-Belgian comics, bandes dessinées ''. Under the pseudonym Christ ...

(1856-1945), a

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, science populariser, and pioneer of

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. * Alphonse Delacroix (1807-1878),

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. * Pierre-Michel Duffieux (1891-1976), a

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and founder of

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. Lecturer and researcher at the

University of Franche-Comté The Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), formerly known as University of Franche-Comté, is a pluridisciplinary public French university located in Besançon, Franche-Comté, with decentralized campuses in Belfort, Montbéliard, Vesoul and ...

. Lived at Coulans-sur-Lison. * Emmanuelle Garnier (1964 - ), professor and currently president of the

University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès ( , formerly known as ''Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail'' , also called Toulouse II or UT2J) is a French public university located in Toulouse, France. It is one of the 3 successor universities of the Univers ...

, originally from Doulaize. * Pierre Lorius (1925-2014), a professional footballer (goalkeeper). Played with Racing Besançon (1952-1954)

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(1949-1952) and Lyon OU (1945-1947). * Jean Mennerat (1917-2007), a member of the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, lived in Coulans-sur-Lison. Owned the world's largest collection of books about chess (27,500 volumes) which he bequeathed to the city of

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. * Jules Quicherat (1814-1882), historian, archaeologist, professor at the

École nationale des chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (; ) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the auxiliary sciences of history, historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the A ...

Etymology

The name of the village has evolved. It has been called Esternoz (1262), Esternos (1275), Esternoch (1280), Esternoz dessoz Monmaour (1294), and Sternol (14th century). The name appears to be of Germanic origin and may mean "valley of beech trees".

Geography

Notable buildings

Notable people

Etymology

Demographics

Politics and administration

See also

References