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 ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
Béthune
Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department.
Geography
Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...
and southwest of
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
, at the junction of the D937 and D65 roads. As the name of the town itself might imply, it was established as a coal mining centre, however with the decline of the mining industry in the area Nœux-les-Mines has evolved to become a light industrial and farming town.
History
Nœux-les-Mines was first recorded in the 4th century as ''Vitri''. It was destroyed in 882 by the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
, before being rebuilt in the 10th century, when it became known as ''Noewe''.
It was part of the small province of Gohelle, itself part of the province of
Artois
Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...
, and was mainly an agricultural town with associated small activities incidental to farming, such as flour mills, sugar mills and breweries.
The name was transformed from Noewe to Nœux-lez-Béthune over the years, but became Nœux-les-Mines in 1887, a few years after the discovery of coal deposits in 1850, when the population numbered a mere 1100 inhabitants. From the opening of the first pit in 1851 the town experienced a strong surge in population up until 1962. All the pits were closed down between 1956 and 1968.
In 1996, the commune transformed one of its old
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
ramps into an
artificial ski slope
A dry ski slope or artificial ski slope is a ski slope that mimics the attributes of snow using materials that are stable at room temperature, to enable people to skiing, ski, snowboarding, snowboard or Tubing (recreation)#Snow, snow tube in pla ...
, which operates throughout the year. Within this same sports complex (''Loisinord'') is a boating lake.
Population
Places of interest
* The church of St. Martin, dating from the nineteenth century.
* The
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...
cemetery.
* The coal mining museum.
* A modern church dedicated to St. Barbe.
* An eighteenth-century farmhouse.
* An oil-pressing mill.
La Clusaz
La Clusaz (; frp, La Klyuza, ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
Overview
It is a ski resort in the Alps near the Swiss border. The commune of La Clusaz is part of the Ha ...
,
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...
, in the French
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...