Ferney-Voltaire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Commune of Ferney-Voltaire | |
| Location | |
| Longitude | 06° 06' 29" E |
| Latitude | 46° 15' 21" N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Région | Rhône-Alpes |
| Département | Ain |
| Arrondissement | Gex |
| Canton | Ferney-Voltaire |
| Intercommunality | Communauté de communes du Pays de Gex |
| Mayor | Pierre-Étienne Duty (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 409 m–446 m (avg. 423 m) |
| Land area¹ | 4.78 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
7,173 |
| - Density (1999) | 1,490/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 01160/ 01210 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Ferney-Voltaire is a town and commune in the Ain département of eastern France, between the Jura mountains and the Swiss border. It forms part of the conurbation of Geneva.
Contents |
[edit] History
It was first noted in 14th century Burgundian registers as Fernex. However, four centuries later, Voltaire changed the "x" to a "y" due to the excessive number of towns with names ending in "x" in the region, such as Maconnex, Saconnex, Gex, Versonnex, Ornex, etc. A rapid expansion took place during Voltaire's rule over Ferney in the second part of the 18th century. Today Ferney is struggling to keep its identity as a historic French village with its distinct character and history, while inevitably also becoming a dormitory suburb of the Greater Geneva region.
[edit] Voltaire
Ferney was home of French writer and philosopher Voltaire from 1759 to 1778. Voltaire's influence on the town was profound. He built the local church and founded cottage industries that produced some of the finest potters and watchmakers of modern France. After French Revolution, the town was renamed Ferney-Voltaire in his honor.
After having lived in Geneva for less than two years, in 1759 Voltaire purchased an estate called Ferney in France near the Swiss border. One of the main reasons he left Geneva was that theater was forbidden in that Calvinist city, so he decided to become the enlightened "patriarch" of the little village of Ferney, setting up potteries, a watchmaking industry and of course various theaters, attracting rich people from Geneva to watch his plays. During Voltaire's residence, the population of Ferney increased to more than 1000. Voltaire lived there for the last 20 years of his life before making his triumphal return to Paris, where he died in 1778.
[edit] Sights
The main attraction is Voltaire's house (chateau), now owned and administered by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (an arm of the French Ministry of Culture). At the time of writing, it is open during the summer only. It includes the main building, with a reconstruction of Voltaire's room (moved from the original location by the successive private owners), a garden with a fine view of the Alps, and a church dedicated, contrary to custom, directly to God (on the incription Deo erexit VOLTAIRE, the name of the latter is written in the largest characters). In the main village there are various 18th century houses and artisans' workshops; a lifesize statue of Voltaire and a smaller one, of his head, above a fountain; many restaurants, French and foreign; and its proximity to the nearby cosmopolitan city of Geneva in Switzerland.
A market is held in the main street every Saturday.
Voltaire's birthday is celebrated every year at beginning of summer, during a village festivity when his works are played on the streets by amateurs as well as professional actors.
The old road at the centre of the village is very beautiful, and a remnant of the time when Voltaire resided in the chateau in Ferney-Voltaire.
[edit] See also
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