Mijoux is a commune and

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

department in eastern

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

The village is situated in the upper section of the narrow Valserine valley, nestled between high

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cliffs to the south-east that form the first

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

of the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

and the edge of the Lajoux

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

to the northwest. However, only the south-eastern side of the valley is within the commune's boundary, which stretches from the source of the Valserine river in the north, to the entry into

Lélex Lélex (; ) is a commune in the department of Ain, eastern France. Mountain sports Lélex is known as the highest ski resort of the Jura Mountains (1680 m). Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list ...

, further down the valley, in the south. The commune is roughly 16 km long and 2 km wide. Despite its high altitude (just under 1000 m), the village is built around a crossroads of regional importance: the valley road (D991) which links

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, ...

with

Les Rousses Les Rousses () is a commune in the Canton of Hauts de Bienne of Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, on the Swiss border. The Lac des Rousses is located northeast of the village of Les Rousses beside th ...

here crosses the D936 which links Saint-Claude with

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

over the Col de la Faucille. Both are former ''routes nationales''.

History

Origins

In 1334 the valley was declared common property and revenue was shared between Jean II de Rossillon and Hugues de Joinville, Sire of Gex. The agreement thereby struck up stated that a hospice should be paid for and built within the valley. The hospice was inhabited by

monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

who were charged with caring for the poorest pilgrims visiting the tombs of the Saints of Condat in Saint-Claude. Most of the pilgrims were from

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

. This was the first building to be inhabited year-round in Mijoux.

The 15th to 18th centuries

Because of

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

conditions within the valley that meant that

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

was harsh and that spring was virtually nonexistent, the valley had remained uninhabited for a long time. However, due to the hospice, houses gradually appeared and work to clear the

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s began so as to allow

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. At first houses were built along the road that links Lajoux to the Col de la Faucille and it would not be until 1601 at the Treaty of Lyon that the river that bisects the town would become a border: the south-eastern side of the valley became French. In 1612 at the Franco-Spanish treaty, signed in Auxonne, the Valserine was chosen as the border between France and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The north-western side of the valley was ceded to France in 1678 at the

Treaties of Nijmegen The Treaties or Peace of Nijmegen (; ; ) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sw ...

The 19th century until today

At the Treaty of Paris in 1815, after

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's downfall, the new border was defined, as it remains today: it passes along Mijoux's thin northern edge. The French

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

, however, were set up along the Valserine as Mijoux,

, Chézery-Forens and the Pays de Gex became a ''pays franc''. Today, the Valserine river serves as the border between the regions of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

and

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

, Mijoux lying within the latter for its most part. During this time, the valley was inhabited by numerous families, whose jobs changed depending on the season. During the

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, tasks included collecting fodder for the

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

, cultivating

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

as well as collecting

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

. In

, when the ground was covered in

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

, the same families cut and polished gems. However, the bloodshed of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the resulting

economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

contributed to the abandonment of farms and a downturn in population levels that left the commune with only half the population it had had 50 years previously. Today and since 1969, tourism is revitalising this village, mainly due to winter sports. The commune has, for the past 20 years, belonged to the Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura.

Population

Economy

Mijoux's economy is largely driven by

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, for the winter sports practised here. Since 1999, Mijoux has been part of the Monts Jura

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

Ski lifts A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/ Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...

link Mijoux to the Col de la Faucille at 1308 m and to Mont Rond, at an altitude of 1543 m above sea level, one of the highest in the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

. This part of the ski station is used mostly by downhill skiers. La Vattay, further up the valley but still within Mijoux, is a centre for

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

Sights

* Col de la Faucille *The archaeological site around the orientation tables at Montrond, a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

since 1936. *Pont Charlemagne over the Valserine, that Yolande of Valois crossed with her kidnappers in 1476 during a

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

by the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

. *Gemcutting museum.