Baâlons () is a commune in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

department in the

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

region of northern

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

Baâlons is located some 25 km north-east of

Rethel Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37 ...

and 18 km south of

Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...

. Access to the commune is by the D28 road from Bouvellemont in the south which passes through the village and continues north-east then north to join the D27. The D991 also goes north from Bouvellemont passing through the west of the commune to join the D951 north of Mazerny. The commune is mixed forest and farmland with particularly large forests in the east. The ''Ruisseau du Fond Cahors'' rises west of the village and flows west to join the ''Ruisseau de la Fontaine aux Chênes''. The ''Ruisseau des Puiselets'' forms the western border of the commune as it flows south to join the Ruisseau du Fond Cahors. The ''Ruisseau de Baâlons'' rises in the north of the commune and flows south towards the village then turns east to join the ''Ruisseau de Bairon'' on the eastern border. The Ruisseau de Bairon forms the eastern border of the commune as it flows south to join the ''Étang de Bairon'' which feeds into the

Canal des Ardennes The Canal des Ardennes (, literally ''Ardennes Canal'') is a summit level canal built to the Freycinet gauge between the river valleys of the Aisne and the Meuse. Physical Characteristics The Canal des Ardennes is 87.779 km long and has 4 ...

west of Tannay.Google Maps
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Hamlets and localities in the commune

;Géraumont Géraumont was a former fief where there is still a castle, now Géromont Farm. ;Les Puiselets A small hamlet west of Baâlons village. It is now very sparsely populated however the ''General Dictionary of cities towns, villages, hamlets and farms of France'' by Duclos says that in 1846 there were 70 inhabitants. ;Beauvois A Hamlet in the north of the commune which is still populated.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Géoportail

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History

Various objects have been found in the commune: *Tools and shards of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

which are probably

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

Bronze Statuettes of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

and

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

Cemetery The ''Universal Dictionary of Ancient and Modern France and New France'' by Marin Saugrain stated in 1726 that: "BAALON in Champagne, Diocese of Reims, Parliament of Paris, Intendance of Chalons, Election of Rhetel, has 419 inhabitants. The Curate is worth nine hundred

livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...

.".

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Baâlonnais'' or ''Baâlonnaises'' in French.

Sites and Monuments

*The Church of Saint-Rémi is a church dating to the 13th century in the late Romanesque style with a tympanum over the door from the 10th century representing a man with a

crosier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catho ...

and an open book flanked by two angels. The church contains two items which are registered as historical objects: **A Group Sculpture: Saint Nicolas (17th century) **A Statue: Virgin and child (14th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy *The Chapel of Saint Anne was built in 1911 on the site of a chapel dating from 1807 near the Saint Anne spring which was a place of pilgrimage. The Procession of Saint Anne is held on 26 July of each year. ;Church and Chapel Picture Gallery Image:Baâlons (Ardennes) église, chevet.JPG, Image:Baâlons (Ardennes) église, façade.JPG, File:Baâlons-FR-08-église-04.JPG, The door to the Church Image:Baâlons (Ardennes) église, tympan.JPG, File:Baâlons-08-église-la nuit-01.jpg, Stained glass in the Church File:Baâlons (Ardennes) croix de chemin.JPG, A Wayside Cross File:Baâlons-FR-08-Sainte Anne-04.JPG, The chapel of Saint Anne File:Baâlons-FR-08-Sainte Anne-05.JPG, The Altar in the Chapel File:Baâlons-FR-08-Sainte Anne-07.JPG, An Oratory at the Chapel of Saint Anne File:Baâlons-FR-08-Sainte Anne-06.JPG, Strained glass in the Chapel

Notable people linked to the commune

*Eugène Houssière, emigrated to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

USA in 1883, donated the Chapel of Saint Anne in 1911.

References

External links

Baâlons

Baâlons on the old National Geographic Institute websiteBaâlons on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Baalon'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baalons Communes of Ardennes (department)