Mijoux

{{short description|Commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox French commune |name = Mijoux |commune status = Commune |image = Mijoux01.jpg |image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Mijoux (Ain).svg |arrondissement = Gex |canton = Thoiry |INSEE = 01247 |postal code = 01410 |mayor = Martine Viallet<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr|access-date=22 November 2022|archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628030259/https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|url-status=live}}</ref> |term = 2021–2026 |intercommunality = [[Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Gex|CA Pays de Gex]] |coordinates = {{coord|46.3661|5.9961|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m = 990 |elevation min m = 866 |elevation max m = 1614 |area km2 = 22.00 |population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}} |population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} |population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}} |native name={{native name|frp|Mijor}}}}

'''Mijoux''' ([[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]: ''Mijor'' {{IPA|frp|mi.ˈðɔr|}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] and [[village]] in the [[Ain]] [[Departments of France|department]] in eastern [[France]].

==Geography== The village is situated in the upper section of the narrow [[Valserine|Valserine valley]], nestled between high [[limestone]] cliffs to the south-east that form the first [[anticline]] of the [[Jura mountains]] and the edge of the [[Lajoux, France|Lajoux]] [[plateau]] 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]], 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]] with [[Les Rousses]] here crosses the D936 which links [[Saint-Claude, Jura|Saint-Claude]] with [[Geneva]] over the [[Col de la Faucille]]. Both are former [[Route nationale (France)|''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, Ain|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]] who were charged with caring for the poorest [[pilgrims]] visiting the tombs of the Saints of Condat in [[Saint-Claude, Jura|Saint-Claude]]. Most of the pilgrims were from [[Geneva]] or [[Savoy]]. This was the first building to be inhabited year-round in Mijoux.

===The 15th to 18th centuries=== Because of [[climate]] conditions within the valley that meant that [[winter]] was harsh and that [[spring (season)|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]]s began so as to allow [[agriculture]].

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 (1601)|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]]. The north-western side of the valley was ceded to France in 1678 at the [[Treaties of Nijmegen]].

===The 19th century until today=== At the [[Treaty of Paris (1815)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1815, after [[Napoleon]]'s downfall, the new border was defined, as it remains today: it passes along Mijoux's thin northern edge. The French [[customs]], however, were set up along the Valserine as Mijoux, [[Lélex]], [[Chézery-Forens]] and the [[Arrondissement of Gex|Pays de Gex]] became a [[Free trade zone|''pays franc'']]. Today, the Valserine river serves as the border between the regions of [[Franche-Comté]] and [[Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes]], 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]], tasks included collecting fodder for the [[livestock]], cultivating [[barley]] and [[potatoes]] as well as collecting [[firewood]]. In [[winter]], when the ground was covered in [[snow]], the same families cut and polished [[Gemstone|gems]].

However, the bloodshed of the [[World War I|Great War]] and the resulting [[Great Depression|economic crisis]] 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== {{Historical populations |source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8643952?geo=COM-01247#tableau-POPREF_G1 Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023], INSEE</ref> |percentages = pagr |align = none |1968 |227 |1975 |191 |1982 |200 |1990 |258 |1999 |312 |2007 |384 |2012 |374 |2017 |341 |2023 |299 }}

==Economy==  Mijoux's economy is largely driven by [[tourism]], for the [[winter sports]] practised here. Since 1999, Mijoux has been part of the Monts Jura [[ski resort]]. [[Ski lifts]] 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]]. This part of the ski station is used mostly by [[Alpine Skiing|downhill skiers]]. La Vattay, further up the valley but still within Mijoux, is a centre for [[cross-country skiing]].

==Sights== *[[Col de la Faucille]] *The archaeological site around the [[orientation table]]s at Montrond, a [[Monument historique]] since 1936. *Pont Charlemagne over the Valserine, that [[Yolande of Valois]] crossed with her kidnappers in 1476 during a [[kidnapping]] by the [[Duke of Burgundy]]. *Gemcutting museum.

==See also== *[[Communes of the Ain department]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.mijoux.fr/index.php Official site]

[[Category:Communes of Ain]]