Andon, Alpes-Maritimes

Andon
Commune

Town hall

Coat of arms
Andon

Coordinates: 43°46′27″N 6°47′14″E / 43.7742°N 6.7872°E / 43.7742; 6.7872Coordinates: 43°46′27″N 6°47′14″E / 43.7742°N 6.7872°E / 43.7742; 6.7872
Country France
Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement Grasse
Canton Grasse-1
Intercommunality Pays de Grasse
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Michèle Sicard-Olivier
Area1 54.3 km2 (21.0 sq mi)
Population (2014)2 559
 • Density 10/km2 (27/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 06003 /06750
Elevation 911–1,649 m (2,989–5,410 ft)
(avg. 1,200 m or 3,900 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Andon (Occitan: Andon e Torenc) is a French commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Andonnais or Andonnaises[1]

Geography

Andon is a small village in the Alpes-Maritimes located about 50 kilometres north-west of Cannes and 30 kilometres south-east of Castellane. Andon is a second home for many coastal residents and for people attracted by the peace and beauty of the area and a winter village surrounded by small ski resorts.

Due to its proximity to the Côte d'Azur and the quietness of the mountains, Andon is a hub for tourists, regular or not, each in search of calm for a few days or hours and is also a haven of peace for artists.

The ski resort of Audibergue is in Andon commune. The Loup has its source nearby.

The village is accessible via the D79 which branches west from the D5 road passing through the village and continuing west to Caille. The D2 road also passes through the north of the commune from Valderoure in the west to Greolieres in the east.[2] The No. 400 route of the Sillages Transport Association (Valderoure-Saint-Vallier) serves the town from Monday to Friday on request and No. 410 route (Valderoure-Villaute) and No. 411 route (Saint-Auban-Villaute) from Monday to Saturday also on request.[3]

Neighbouring communes and villages[2]

Adjacent places of Andon, Alpes-Maritimes
 Valderoure Le Mas Greolieres
Caille Cipieres
   Andon  
Escragnolles Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey Caussols

Climate

The climate of the region is Alpine with Mediterranean influences. Winters are cold (-4 °C to 6 °C) with warm summers (22 °C in the afternoon) and sunny with cool nights (8 to 10 °C). The rest of the year is rather cool with frosts possible from October to May.

Climate data for Andon-Thorenc (1899-1908; 1932-1941; 1943-1950 except 1945-1947)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 5.5
(41.9)		 5.5
(41.9)		 9.0
(48.2)		 12.4
(54.3)		 15.5
(59.9)		 19.6
(67.3)		 22.3
(72.1)		 22.1
(71.8)		 19.2
(66.6)		 14.1
(57.4)		 9.5
(49.1)		 5.5
(41.9)		 13.4
(56.1)
Average low °C (°F) −3.0
(26.6)		 −3.4
(25.9)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 1.7
(35.1)		 4.2
(39.6)		 7.9
(46.2)		 10.3
(50.5)		 10.3
(50.5)		 8.0
(46.4)		 4.3
(39.7)		 −0.1
(31.8)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 3.0
(37.4)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 82
(3.23)		 82
(3.23)		 117
(4.61)		 91
(3.58)		 104
(4.09)		 72
(2.83)		 60
(2.36)		 30
(1.18)		 106
(4.17)		 167
(6.57)		 137
(5.39)		 78
(3.07)		 1,126
(44.33)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 4 5 6 7 9 7 5 4 5 9 8 6 75
Mean monthly sunshine hours 182.9 186.5 221.7 246.0 190.7 285.0 339.5 244.9 258.0 223.2 171.0 127.1 2,676.5
Source: Les Alpes-Maritimes, Etages Climatiques et Indications Médicales - Dr. Jean Ducoeur

History

The commune of Andon incorporates territory from three areas with Thorenc and Haut-Thorenc, Thorenc-Station, and Bas-Thorenc in the north, the hamlet of Canauxin in the east, and the ski resort of Audibergue in the south.

Andon

The site of Andon village has been occupied since 1000 BC. There are traces of the presence of Ligures in an entrenched camp called Castellaras de la Selle d'Andon. This site was later occupied by the Romans. Milestones have been found indicating the Via Vintiana connecting Séranon to Gréolières with the names of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the procurator Julius Honoratus.

There are traces of Roman presence at multiple sites in the commune at: la Selle de Caille, la ferme du château, la Moulière, les Teilles, la Selle d'Andon, la Baisse, la Haute-Valette. At Collet de la Serre in the castellaras a small necropolis was found. The ruins of a large Roman tomb have been identified near the priory of Clos de Bourges.

The village of Andon succeeded a former village which was perched on the Col de Castellaras and whose remains date to the 13th century. It was abandoned after a fire in the 18th century. The village was then rebuilt at the current location.

The Count of Provence gave the lordship of Andon to Romée de Villeneuve in 1230. The lordship then passed to the family of Grasse-Bar, then to Russan then Théas. On the eve of the Revolution it belonged, with Thorenc, to Mr. de Fanton, a Lieutenant-General at the Grasse headquarters.

The death of Queen Joanna I of Naples created a crisis of succession for the head of the County of Provence. The cities of the Union of Aix (1382-1387) supported Charles of Duras against Louis I of Anjou. The Lord of Andon, Florent de Castellane, endorsed the Angevins in 1385 after the death of Louis I.[4]

Canaux

Canaux appears in texts in 1251.[5]

In 1421, the Countess of Provence gave this lordship to Bertrand de Grasse. The original village was located 1 km to the west.

In 1623, the Bishop of Grasse dared not climb to Canaux "as we are assured that the road is rough and bad". His successors were equally cautious.

Thorenc

Thorenc is mentioned in texts from 1200 under the name castrum de Torenc or Torenc. The village was originally a lordship of Grasse, then of Boniface de Castellane before depending the Count of Provence in 1235 who passed it to Romée de Villeneuve. The Lords of Thorenc only resided in the castle of the Four Towers a few months per year.

From 1348 village life was disturbed by the arrival of the Black Death that decimated the population and then by the war between the Angevins and Duras for the succession of the County of Provence. In 1384 and between January and October 1385, a gang leader called Vita de Blois was present at Thorenc who seized the lordship on behalf of the Count of Savoy. The text of the Truce of Nice of 3 November 1388, stated that Vita de Blois entered the service of Amédée VII with 25 spears and undertakes not to attack until the following May the Duchess of Anjou and her supporters from his castrum de Thorenc. There were still the ravages of the plague in the 15th century that drove people to leave the village.

In 1542 a branch of Villeneuve-Thorenc appeared with Claude I. His descendants were also lords of Saint-Jeannet and governors of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Claude I of Villeneuve-Thorenc sold, in 1539, the Castle of the Four Towers to Rascas, Lord of Muy. He built a new castle in Haut-Thorenc. Antoine de Russan, who was called Virnasse Lord of Thorenc, of Malle, and of Pignans, would have bought the Lordship of Thorenc from Rascas of Muy around 1515. The Rascas family had sufficient money to follow François I to war. They held Thorenc from Charles of Anjou (after it having belonged to the Templars.) It was he who strengthened and renovated the castle. The castle then belonged to Raymond of Eoulx, Puget de Clermont, Calvy, Saint-André, then to the Count of Estang-Parade.

Towards 1515, the Russan family originally from Grasse (Simosse said of Russan that they were converted Jewish merchants the 3rd richest in the city in the 15th century who certainly came from Russan near Nîmes) were co-lords of Thorenc and owned land in Bas-Thorenc. An Act of 26 August 1520 recorded the sharing agreement of Thorenc land between Antoine de Villeneuve (of Haut-Thorenc) and Antoine de Russan (of Lower Thorenc). In 1640 at the wedding of Honorade de Russan, the Russans were still lords of Thorenc. In 1624, Antoine III de Russan, Squire of Thorenc, married his daughter Gasparde "acted, done and published audit at Thorenc and in the room of the house and castle of the Squire of Thorenc". (There may be some scepticism about the sale of the Castle of the Four Towers to Villeneuve in 1560 since it was in the Russan family from 1515 to at least 1624).

Antoine de Grasse inherited the Russan land and formed the line of Grasse-Thorenc with a share of the land of Bas-Thorenc with the other part belonging to Grasse-Saint-Cézaire. The fief of Grasse-Thorenc was purchased by the Lombards of Amirat in 1632. It was sold in 1708 to Paul de Théas, Lord of Caille. The marriage in 1746 of Anne-Marie, sister of François de Théas-Thorenc, to Albert de Durand de Sartoux brought the Castle of Barraque into the Durand de Sartoux family.

The Castle of the Four Towers was sold in 1560 by Rescas, Lord of Muy to Villeneuve-Mons and it then passed into the Villeneuve-Bargemon family. In the middle of the 18th century their heirs sold this part of the fief to Claude de Fanton, Lord of Andon and king's counsel in the Seneschal of Grasse.

After the Revolution, the territory of Thorenc became part of the commune of Andon.

The hygienism of the 19th century (based on the findings of Louis Pasteur) created the fashion of staying in Thorenc as a climate station using therapy for hygiene. The sanatorium of the clergy of France was built on the site of the castle of the abbots of Lérins.

Heraldry

 Blazon:

Argent, three trees Vert, in chief Azure charged with an eagle of Or between the letters A and R in gothic script.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors[6]

From To Name Party Position
1813 1816 Antoine Funel
1818 Honoré Funel
1826 Jean-Baptiste Fanton d'Andon
1827 Antoine Funel
1832 Honoré Funel
1837 Pierre Michel
1884 Michel Fortune
1907 Michel Asprien
1914 Bonhomme Sederin
1918 Joseph Pellegrin
1932 Victorin Bonhomme
1938 Gabriel Michel Adolphe
1938 1955 André Saytour
1955 1971 Victorin Bonhomme
1971 1982 Michel Dikansky
1982 1983 Armand Rebuffel
1983 1991 Roger Perrimond
1991 2002 Adrien Prato
2002 2020 Michèle Sicard-Olivier UMP President of the Community of Communes of Monts d'Azur

(Not all data is known)

Partial municipal elections took place in 2002 following the revocation of Adrien Prato by judicial decision, leading to the election of Michèle Olivier.

Demography

In 2009 the commune had 562 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
145 240 257 279 307 341 362 334 319
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
324 383 349 299 289 278 322 231 237
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
302 328 279 239 209 387 393 439 489
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2009 -
347 341 444 249 300 341 - 562 -

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Sites and Monuments

Victorin Bonhomme Square at the centre of the village and the church
The ramparts of Castellaras de Thorenc

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine., the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" which allow, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

  1. ↑ Inhabitants of Alpes-Maritimes (in French)
  2. 1 2 Google Maps
  3. ↑ Timetables of Sillages routes on demand serving Andon (in French)
  4. ↑ Geneviève Xhayet, Partisans and Adversaries of Louis of Anjou during the war of the Union d'Aix Archived 2015-07-23 at the Wayback Machine., Historical Provence, Fédération historique de Provence, volume 40, No. 162, "About the War of the Union d'Aix", 1990, p. 412 (note 55). (in French)
  5. ↑ Philippe Beauchamp, Villages and isolated Hamlets of Alpes-Maritimes, p. 139-140, Éditions Serre, Nice, 1989, ISBN 2-86410-131-9 (in French)
  6. ↑ List of Mayors of France
  7. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM06000001 Stoup (in French)
  8. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00080961 Castellaras de Thorenc (in French)
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