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Basse-Allaine

Merger 2009 Canton of Jura · District: Porrentruy · 1'197 inhabitants (31.12.2024)
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Basse-Allaine

The name Basse-Allaine is approved by the Jura Parliament together with the merger, in September 2008. It does not take up the name of any of the three villages.[1][2]

Founding of Basse-Allaine

Basse-Allaine unites Buix, Courtemaîche and Montignez. Courchavon took part in the first studies of 2006 but is not part of the merged commune. The Jura Parliament ratifies the merger in September 2008. It comes into force on 1 January 2009, together with six other mergers that bring the canton down from 83 to 64 communes. The three villages lie close to the French border. Montignez, away from the Porrentruy to Delle road, sits in a largely wooded hollow between the valleys of the Allaine and the Coeuvatte. Under the Ancien Régime it belonged to the mairie of Cœuve, while Buix is listed under the mairie of Bure. An older link binds the territory: the abbey of Bellelay and its priory of Grandgourt, whose lands in Montignez, Buix and Courtemaîche were still surveyed in 1789. In Montignez, Bellelay was the main landowner and drew substantial dues from its manors.[1][2][3][6][8]

History of Basse-Allaine

731. Montignez is recorded as « Montaniaco ».[8]

1139. On 14 January Pope Innocent II confirms the possessions of the provostry of Saint-Ursanne, Buix among them.[6]

1180. The abbey of Bellelay settles Premonstratensian canons at Grandgourt.[7]

1244. On 30 April Hugues de Buix gives Bellelay a meadow for the church of Grandgourt. The deed is said to be the oldest document written in French in Switzerland.[7]

1386. On 5 July Prince-Bishop Imier of Ramstein sells Porrentruy and nearby villages, Buix and Courtemaîche among them, to the counts of Montbéliard. The prince-bishop buys them back on 29 June 1461.[6]

1495. On 29 June Buix and Montignez agree on the boundary between their lands.[6]

1634-1640. During the Thirty Years' War, troops in Swedish service burn down the church of St Martin and many houses in Montignez.[8]

1779. Buix and Courtemaîche are among the parishes that pass from the diocese of Besançon to that of Basel. Montignez had also belonged to Besançon until then.[6][8]

1978. Buix and Montignez conclude an intercommunal school agreement.[6]

2006. Courchavon, Courtemaîche, Buix and Montignez study a union.[2]

2008. On 3 September the Jura Parliament ratifies the merger of Buix, Courtemaîche and Montignez and approves the name Basse-Allaine.[1][2]

2008. Last communal assembly of Montignez before the merger, on 10 December.[2]

2009. The merger comes into force on 1 January. The communal council of Basse-Allaine is constituted on 5 January.[1][2][3]

2010. On 4 November the assembly adopts a coat of arms combining elements of the three former communes. The same day the commune joins the Communauté de l'école secondaire Ajoie/Clos-du-Doubs.[1]

2011. The coat of arms is inaugurated on 7 October.[1]

2019. Communal elections in May. The commune elects its third mayor.[4]

Population of Basse-Allaine

Sources and references: [5]

Population of Basse-Allaine
20241'197

Historic sites in Basse-Allaine

Former priory of Grandgourt. A house of the abbey of Bellelay, whose mill is recorded as early as 1244, the priory was annexed to the college of Porrentruy on 29 April 1593 by Prince-Bishop Jacques-Christophe Blarer de Wartensee. It is listed as cultural property of national importance.[7][9]

Church of St Martin, Montignez. Its rectangular late Gothic choir, restored in 1778, survived the fires of the Thirty Years' War. The porch tower with its spire dates from 1868. In 1956 a Merovingian sarcophagus was found in the choir.[8]

Buix church. Rebuilt in 1854-1855 and consecrated in 1856, it was placed under historic monument protection on 4 October 1995.[6]

Prairie Dessous Gallo-Roman villa. At Buix, this Gallo-Roman villa, excavated in 1993, is listed as cultural property of national importance.[6][9]

Bâme cave. At Courtemaîche, this cave, used from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, is cultural property of regional importance.[9]

Communal administration. It is in Courtemaîche.[4]

Sources

  1. Chronologie jurassienne, « Basse-Allaine, commune »
  2. Chronologie jurassienne, « Montignez »
  3. République et Canton du Jura, « Message du Gouvernement au Parlement relatif à la révision de la législation en matière de fusion de communes » (30 mars 2011)
  4. Commune de Basse-Allaine, « Bilan de législature 2018-2022 » (septembre 2022)
  5. Statistique Jura, « Mémento statistique Jura 2025 » (population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2024)
  6. Chronologie jurassienne, « Buix »
  7. Chronologie jurassienne, « Grandgourt Courtemaîche »
  8. Office fédéral de la culture, ISOS, « Montignez », n° 2405
  9. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du canton du Jura (état au 1.1.2026)

Localities of the municipality with a page

Other villages near Basse-Allaine

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