Conjux () 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

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

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 In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in southeastern

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 ...

. Since January 2017, the commune has formed part of the conurbation of

Grand Lac Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

, following the fusion of the former Communauté de communes de Chautagne into this larger agglomeration. At 175 ha, the smallest commune in the region of Chautagne, Conjux extends for 5 km along the northwestern coastline of

Lac du Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; en, Grey Lake) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely with ...

; it is bounded to the north by the

Canal de Savières The Canal de Savières () is a canal in eastern France. It joins the Lac du Bourget to the Rhône at Chanaz. It is long with one lock.
Gros, ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu de la Savoie''Michèle Brocard, Lucien Lagier-Bruno, André Palluel-Guillard, 'Histoire des communes savoyardes : Aix-les-Bains et ses environs – Les Bauges – La Chartreuse – La Combe de Savoie – Montmélian (vol. 2)', Roanne, Éditions Horvath, 1984, p. 358–36

/ref> Its derivation is not related to the Latin

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...

, 'conjux' (spouse).

Economic activity

Fishing was traditionally the mainstay of the village, but today only two professional fishermen are based in the commune. The recently expanded Port of Conjux is now largely used for recreational boating and amateur fishing. Economic activity is largely confined to small businesses, including a burgeoning supply of holiday accommodation and a restaurant, and salaried work in nearby cities such as Aix-les-Bains and Chambéry. The commune maintains a municipal camping ground
Les Babelles
and a bathing beach, as well as managing the boating harbour. The commune recently also undertook a major plan to redevelop the port and beach area, the 'Port-Plage' project,- in French entailing enlargement of the port, opening up of the Biez rivulet (previously partially piped underground to the lake) to restore the natural waterway, and improvements to tourist and fishing facilities.

Chapel

The chapel of Saints-Crépin-et-Crépinien at Conjux dates in part from the 15th century. Formerly a parish church, it was not restored to that status following the reestablishment of worship after the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

. It was established as a vicarial chapel in 1883. The building was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1826, fell in ruins in 1886, and was restored in several stages (1890, 1938 and 1978).
Official site of the Commune of Conjux (in French). The rebuilt neoGothic nave has a ribbed vault, linked to a side chapel comprising remains of the 15th Century building. The interior includes a polished wood statue of the Madonna and Child from the 14th Century, Gallo-Roman remains including an inscribed funerary stone, and an altar of

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...

Archeology

An underwater archaeological site, Conjux-le-Port-3, includes visible remains from

prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...

, with evidence of occupation from Neolithic to late Bronze Age times and the discernable outline of the now submerged village.

Dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

evidence dates the Conjux-Port 1 site from between 832 and 813 BC. The site was classified as an historical monument in 2011. Portout was the site of a Gallo-Roman pottery, active in the third century CE. The site was excavated between 1976 and 1983: the objects discovered now form the bulk of the collection on display at th
Musée Gallo-Romain
in neighbouring

Chanaz Chanaz is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 524. See also *Communes of the Savoie department *Canal de Savières The Canal de Savières () is a canal ...

World War Two

Under German occupation during the Second World War, Conjux is remembered for two contrasting humanitarian acts. In March 1943, a German military plane crashed in Lac du Bourget while on a training flight. Fishermen from Conjux rescued the two surviving crew who were then sheltered by local families despite misgivings about giving aid to the occupying military; offers of financial rewards were refused, and four prisoners of war were later released as a reciprocal gesture. The incident is portrayed in the 2013 film of France-based German film maker Anja Unger
L'Avion du Lac
During the Nazi occupation, Conjuxiens Félix and Marie Maurier sheltered a young Jewish girl, Liliane Kuhn, presenting her as their grandchild. She survived the holocaust, and her protectors were subsequently recognised as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

Images

200501 Conjux I.JPG,

as seen from Conjux View of Lac du Bourget.jpg, Chatillon and Lac du Bourget as seen from Conjux Chapel and war memorial, Conjux.jpg, Chapel of Saints-Crépin-et-Crépinien and war memorial, Conjux 14th century wooden Madonna and Christ child.jpg, Wooden Madonna, interior of the Chapel of Saints-Crépin-et-Crépinien, Conjux