Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Encyclopedia
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine is a commune
in the Ain
department in eastern France
.
.
At this spot, the water of the two rivers runs underground, and it was possible to cross both of them easily. Since the building of a dam in Genissiat
, the level of the Rhône was raised several meters but the pertes de la Valserine are still visible.
Bellegarde lies in a valley dominated by the plateau of Retord on the west and the massif of the Grand Crêt d'Eau and the Vuache on the east. The passage created by the Rhône is the principal access to the area around Gex
and the north of Lake Geneva
.
Bellegarde was voted "The worst place in eastern France" in a recent poll, and offers virtually no tourist attractions, despite being near to both Geneva and Lyon, and situated on the marvellous Rhône river.
Population=
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Ain
Ain
Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
department in eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Bellegarde is located at the confluence of the Valserine and the RhôneRhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
.
At this spot, the water of the two rivers runs underground, and it was possible to cross both of them easily. Since the building of a dam in Genissiat
Injoux-Génissiat
Injoux-Génissiat is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
, the level of the Rhône was raised several meters but the pertes de la Valserine are still visible.
Bellegarde lies in a valley dominated by the plateau of Retord on the west and the massif of the Grand Crêt d'Eau and the Vuache on the east. The passage created by the Rhône is the principal access to the area around Gex
Gex, Ain
Gex is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.It lies from the Swiss border and from Geneva. It is a sous-préfecture of Ain.-History:...
and the north of Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
.
Bellegarde was voted "The worst place in eastern France" in a recent poll, and offers virtually no tourist attractions, despite being near to both Geneva and Lyon, and situated on the marvellous Rhône river.
Population=
See also
- Perte du RhonePerte du RhonePerte-du-Rhône . North of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine there is a sixty metre deep fault into which the Rhone used to disappear during the dry season. In 1948 the Génissiat Dam was built south of Bellegarde and the perte du Rhône was transformed in a reservoir twenty three kilometre long from...
- Pertes de la Valserine
- RhoneRhôneRhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
- ValserineRiver ValserineThe river Valserine is a tributary of the Rhone that flows for from the Col de la Faucille in the Jura Mountains to its confluence with the Rhone at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine...
- Communes of the Ain department