Calvados
Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears.
History In France
Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
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 northwestern
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 ...
.
Geography
Ablon is 5 km south east of
Honfleur
Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Hon ...
and 16 km north-west of Pont-Audemer with its northern border on the
Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
Estuary. It can be reached on Highway D580A from Honfleur turning right on the small country road called ''Cote de Vats'' to reach the village of Ablon. Road D140 (Route de Genneville) from Genneville in the south passes through the western side of the commune to join the D580a just outside the commune. The D144 road forms the southern border of the commune. Ablon is in the north-eastern corner of the Calvados department with its eastern border being the departmental border with
Eure
Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Google Maps /ref>
The ''Morelle'' river passes through the north of the commune from east to west although oddly does not form part of the commune. The ''Canal de Retour'' is parallel to it but also does not form part of the commune.
Toponymy
The name of the village is attested as far back as 1180 as Abelon.
One theory states that the town's name comes from the Norse ''Epi-lundr'', meaning “apple orchard”. The nearby village of Yébleron shares this etymology. The ancient scandinavian ''lundr'' meaning orchard or wood has regularly been followed by the suffix -lon (for example, Bouquelon, Écaquelon, Yquelon, etc.).
Another theory suggests that the town's name derives from the Germanic personal name Abilo, followed by the suffix -o/-one, but this suffix does not usually accompany Germanic personal names. It has also been suggested that the name is based solely on the name ‘Abilo' with no suffix but the usage of a personal name with no suffix or epithet would be exceptional among Norman place names.
A third theory suggests that Ablon comes from the Germanic personal name Abbo followed by the suffix -lon. If this is the case the name of the town means “Abbo's wood”.
The similarity with the nearby village of
Ablon-sur-Seine
Ablon-sur-Seine (, literally ''Ablon on Seine'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris.
Ablon h ...
is coincidental.
History
In 1809, Ablon grew in size following its union with two neighbouring communes: Crémanville and Ableville.
Ablon was the site of a Nobel
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
factory from 1879 until 1989.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The factory ceased operations following an explosion on 3 March 1988 which killed 5, including the factory's director, and left 8 injured. Windows were broken more than a kilometre away in the village of
Honfleur
Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Hon ...
.
Administration
List of Successive Mayors of Ablon
Population
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Ablonnais'' or ''Ablonnaises'' in French.
Culture and heritage
Civil heritage
The commune has two buildings that are registered as historical monuments:
*The Chateau of Ablon (1767 and 1845)
*The Dynamite Factory (1885 to 1916). The factory contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
**A Dreiswerke moulding machine (1952)
**A Weighing machine (20th century)
**A Nitroglycerine production line (20th century)
;Other sites of interest:
*La Houssaye Manor-farm
Religious heritage
The Parish Church of Saint-Pierre contains one item that is registered as an historical object:
*A
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...
(12th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy
See also
*
Communes of the Calvados department
The following is a list of the 526 Communes of France, communes of the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities ...