Belley

Belley
Belley
	Commune
	Place des Terreaux, Belley
	Coat of arms
	Location of Belley
	Belley Belley
	Coordinates: 45°46′00″N 5°41′00″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Ain
Arrondissement	Belley
Canton	Belley
Intercommunality	Bugey Sud
Government
• Mayor (2015-2020)	Pierre Berthet
Area 1	22.42 km2 (8.66 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)[1]	9,103
• Density	410/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Belleysans
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	01034 /01300
Elevation	220–392 m (722–1,286 ft) ; (avg. 306 m or 1,004 ft)
Website	www.belley.fr
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Belley (French pronunciation: [bɛlɛ], Arpitan: Bèlê) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.

History

Belley is of Roman origin, and in the 5th century became an episcopal see. It was the capital of the province of Bugey, which was a dependency of Savoy till 1601, when it was ceded to France. In 1385 the town was almost entirely destroyed by an act of incendiarism, but was subsequently rebuilt by the dukes of Savoy, who surrounded it with ramparts of which little is left.[2]

Belley was the birthplace of the epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

Ecclesiastical history

Belley was the seat of the Bishop of Belley and the location of Belley Cathedral. Belley is the home region of St. Peter Chanel, the famous 19th-century Marist missionary martyr and proto-martyr of Oceania.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2006	8,466	—
2007	8,665	+2.4%
2008	8,750	+1.0%
2009	8,749	−0.0%
2010	8,755	+0.1%
2011	8,761	+0.1%
2012	8,870	+1.2%
2013	8,909	+0.4%
2014	8,983	+0.8%
2015	9,058	+0.8%
2016	9,133	+0.8%

Economy

The town is famed for its cheese, la Tome de Belley, also known as Chevret or still "Le pavé d'Affinois". It is also at the centre of the Bugey wine region. It is also home to a sizeable Volvo production unit producing compact excavators, Comatel and Ciat.

Personalities

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas lived in Belley.[3]
French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was born and lived in Belley and served as its mayor for some time.
French writer Andrée Martinerie (1917–1997) writer winner of the 1961 Prix des Libraires was born in Belley.

References

"Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Belley". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 699.
Life and Letters: Gertrude Stein's War: The New Yorker

INSEE

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.

[2] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Belley". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 699.

[3] Life and Letters: Gertrude Stein's War: The New Yorker