Divonne-les-Bains
| Divvonne-les-Bains | ||
|---|---|---|
Foothills of the Jura
|
||
|
||
 Divvonne-les-Bains
|
||
|
Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Divvonne-les-Bains
|
||
| Coordinates: 46°21′24″N 6°08′34″E / 46.3567°N 6.1428°ECoordinates: 46°21′24″N 6°08′34″E / 46.3567°N 6.1428°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Ain | |
| Arrondissement | Gex | |
| Canton | Gex | |
| Intercommunality | Pays de Gex | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2014–2020) | Étienne Blanc | |
| Area1 | 33.88 km2 (13.08 sq mi) | |
| Population (2014)2 | 9,100 | |
| • Density | 270/km2 (700/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 01143 /01220 | |
| Elevation | 464–1,447 m (1,522–4,747 ft) (avg. 509 m or 1,670 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. |
||
.svg)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Divvonne-les-Bains is a commune in the department of Ain in eastern France.
Divonne-les-Bains is a spa town situated on the border with French-speaking Switzerland, between the foot of the Jura mountains and Lake Geneva. It is situated in the Pays de Gex, about eight km from Gex, from which the area takes its name. Divonne is about 20 km from Geneva to the south-west and 10 km from Nyon to the east. Since 2012 Divonne forms part of a wider agglomeration known as Grand Genève.
A short way above the town there are several springs, which were exploited in the 19th century to provide spa facilities for which Divonne became renowned.
The golf course was built in the 1930s. Many of its present-day amenities - casino, hippodrome, open air swimming pool and artificial lake (Lac de Divonne) - were built after 1945. The Casino de Divonne was opened in 1954. A cultural centre by the lake (L'Esplanade du lac) was completed in 2005. Divonne used to host a small chamber music festival every summer, centred on its tiny theatre and the Domaine de Divonne. The Chateau of Divonne, now a luxury hotel, suffered a serious fire in January 2017, and is currently being rebuilt.
There is a lively market on Sundays and a succession of cultural and sporting events throughout the year.
A number of etymologies are suggested:
1) Divona, Devona - the name of a Gaulish goddess of a sacred spring providing water for the city that is now Bordeaux, invoked in a 4th-century Latin poem by Ausonius. The Latin quatrain was engraved on a stone tablet above a spring at Divonne in the nineteenth century by persons erroneously supposing that Divonne was referred to. It can still be seen near the Casino.
2) Conflation of the Latin word divis (rich, abundant) and the word Ona or Ana, for a flowing river (as in the river Rhone)
3) Conflation of the Celtic word vonne (a source) and di (abundant)
...
Wikipedia