Artemare () is a commune in the Ain

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 of eastern France.

Geography

Artemare is a commune in Valromey 16 km north of Belley and 8 km north-west of Culoz and the Rhône. Artemare is exposed to the south between two chains of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...

: the Planachat in the west and the Colombier culminating in Grand-Colombier (1538 m) to the east. This village is between Lower- Bugey and Upper- Bugey not far from Savoie and

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Virieu-le-Grand. The main railway line from Modane to Lyon passes through the south of the commune from west to east. Apart from the village, which has quite a large urban area, and the hamlet of Cerveyrieu, the rest of the commune is mixed farmland and forest.Google Maps
/ref> Artemare is watered by a network of four rivers: *the River Yon, enclosed in a canal through the village and used to work sawmills and to feed trout ponds. It flows into the Séran which is a tributary of the Rhone which it joins near Culoz *the Séran traverses the hamlet of Cerveyrieu which gives its name to a waterfall about fifty metres high *the Arvière (locally called the Groin) forms a confluence with the Seran. *the Ruisseau de l'Eau Morte (Dead Water) The Groin and the Séran cut deeply into the limestone terrain. The Groin rises in the commune of Vieu from an intermittent source before forming a deep canyon visible from ''Devil's Bridge'' in Vieu. The Séran rises upstream of the Cerveyrieu waterfall from '' Giant's kettles'' where water swirls around - but only when the Seran is not dry.

History

According to Louis Berthelon, Artemare was first "a small group of dwellings located above a hill called ''Molard''" and it was this "wonderful location overlooking the vast marshes extending from Bourget to Cerveyrieu earning it its name of ''Altemare'' meaning "Upper Sea" ", later becoming ''Artemare''. Local tradition has it that

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Mart ...

evangelized the region which had until then indulged in pagan cults. The church of Artemare is dedicated to him and he also gave his name to a neighbouring village - Saint-Martin-de-Bavel. The Gallic and Roman periods were the origin of many current placenames, especially those ending in ''-ieu'' which comes from the suffix ''-acum'' of Gallic origin. For example, ''Talissieu'' comes from the anthroponym ''Talussus'' and the word for son ''Donnus'' gives ''Don'' etc. Invading armies, particularly by the

saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, who occupied the plateau of Fierloz are not only the origin of the name of the locality "under the Carraz" but, according to Louis Berthelon, became part of the population. Struck by the plagues of the Middle Ages and after having been a direct domain of the Counts and Dukes of Savoy, Valromey was occupied from 1536 to 1559 by François I then Henry II and, from 1595 to 1601, by Henry IV. It became permanently French by the Treaty of Lyon on 17 January 1601 along with Bresse, Bugey and the Gex country well before neighbouring Savoy which was linked to France by Napoleon III in 1860. In 1612 the writer Honoré d'Urfé inherited from his mother (who was born Renée de Savoie) the first title of Marquis of Valromey (''Verromey'' in local dialect). This name appears in the text under the names: *''Verrumensi'' (1110) *''Veromensi'' (1142) *''Verrometum'' (1169) The name probably derives from ''Venetonimagus'' or the older ''Vernemetonimagos'' meaning "Market of the Grand Shrine"(?). The etymology of ''Vallis Romana'' meaning "Roman valley" was the invention of Latin scholars. Cerveyrieu, Yon, Artemare, and Ameyzieu parish included Artemare until the French Revolution. They were still small villages until the dissolution of the commune of Ameyzieu in 1862 (now the commune of

Talissieu Talissieu () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France. The communes cooperate in the followin ...

) and the formation of the ''Yon-Artemare''. From 1 January 1886 the commune took the name of ''Artemare'' only. The commune or, more precisely at the time, the parishes of Yon and Cerveyrieu was known for its manufacture of flat-bottomed boats which could reach the port of Culoz on the Rhône via the Séran particularly for the timber trade. A " Tramway of Bugey" (steam train) operated between Virieu-le-Grand and Ruffieu via the "Incline of Artemare" from 1898 to 1933. On 29 December 1923 there was an accident at La Faverge ( Champagne-en-Valromey) causing the death of a mechanic and driver. As recalled by the war memorials of the town, many residents of Artemare died during the two world wars. During the Second World War a ''Kommandantur'' was resident at the Hotel Berrard (now Michallet). The

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

of Upper Valromey was close and during the German occupation they attacked a ''Chantier de Jeunesse'' camp to procure equipment. A monument on the side of the road through the Lèbe mountain pass near Bioléaz with twenty headstones or plaques on places where Resistance fighters had been detained or killed testifies to the commitment of the people of Artemare and its surrounding area to the

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

. After the Liberation, a German POW camp was installed above the village (currently a plastics factory).

Administration

List of Mayors of Artemare

Population

Economy

The town has many shops and stores.

Sights

Cascade de Cerveyrieu - avant 1929 - carte postale

*The Clos Lambert (Lambert Enclosure), once a stronghold of the Knights of Seyssel, replaced by a renaissance house in the second half of the 16th century. Today it is an ESAT (Establishment and Aid services through Work). The roof, basement, a small house of the 16th century, and a mullioned window escaped the vicissitudes of history *The Cascade of Cerveyrieu is fuller during floods on the Seran river *The Cuve à Balthazar (Pit at Balthazar), an abyss at Groin between Don and Artemare. The micro-power plant built just below the pit decreases the flow for part of the year because of the water intake upstream *The Castle of Mâchuraz in the commune of Vieu (16th century, restored in the 19th century), its round tower dominates the entrance to the village of Artemare when arriving from the west. The vineyard developed by the Abbey of Saint-Sulpice provided renowned wines of Bugey *At Cerveyrieu is a 16th-century house under renovation for several years in the internal courtyard and the hexagonal tower, the rest being in poor condition and abandoned. The polygonal tower still bears the date 1572; *A restored Oven and Lavoir (Public laundry). *The Vierge of Fierloz (pronounced "Fiarle") is a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

formation on which there are traces of saracen camps.Monograph on the History of Artemare
by Louis Berthelon.

Personalities

*Adolphe Appian (1818-1898), painter of the Lyon School who spent many summers at Artemare and painted many sites of Valromey. Some of his paintings are exhibited in the museum of the Monastery of Brou.

Events

On 10 September 2009 President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

visited the commune when he formalized the establishment from 1 January 2010 of the carbon tax advocated by the report of Michel Rocard.

References

{{authority control Communes of Ain