Coligny, Ain

Coligny

Town hall

Coat of arms

Coligny

Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

Coligny

Coordinates: 46°22′59″N 5°20′46″E / 46.3831°N 5.3461°ECoordinates: 46°22′59″N 5°20′46″E / 46.3831°N 5.3461°E

Country

Coligny

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Jean Bernadac

Area¹

16.87 km² (6.51 sq mi)

Population (2008)²

1,150

• Density

68/km² (180/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

01108 / 01270

Elevation

199–575 m (653–1,886 ft)
(avg. 293 m or 961 ft)

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

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

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

Coligny is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.

The commune lies near Bourg-en-Bresse; the Solnan forms its southwestern border.

Coligny is famed for its Celtic lunisolar calendar, the "Coligny calendar". The calendar, which dates from the turn of the 1st century, has been key in the understanding of the knowledge of astronomy among the Gauls, and also supplied interesting information about their language (e.g., their names for months and the words for "lucky" and "unlucky"). It was an engraved bronze tablet originally discovered as fragments in 1897. It is written in the Latin alphabet and it represents a five-year cycle composed of three years having twelve lunar months and two years (the first and third) having thirteen lunar months.

At the end of the 19th century a bronze statue was discovered in the town and has been christened the Dieu de Coligny (God of Coligny).

Coligny was the birthplace of Joseph Darnand (1897–1945), a French pro-Nazi traitor and leader of the Vichy French Milice.

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Wikipedia