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Clos du Doubs

Merger 2009 Canton of Jura · District: Porrentruy · 1'304 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 Clos du Doubs

Since 2009 the commune has borne the name Clos du Doubs, different from that of each of the seven former communes. How the name was chosen is not documented.

Founding of Clos du Doubs

The commune unites Epauvillers, Epiquerez, Montenol, Montmelon, Ocourt, Saint-Ursanne and Seleute. In April 2008 the communal assemblies of these seven villages accept the project, while Soubey rejects it. The Jura Parliament ratifies the merger, which comes into force on 1 January 2009 together with six other Jura mergers. The Doubs is the link. Saint-Ursanne, a fortified town built around its collegiate church on the right bank, is the centre, and Montenol sits to the south on a ridge above a bend of the river. Before the Revolution Saint-Ursanne was the chief town of a provostship in which the chapter exercised seigneurial rights, above all in today's Clos du Doubs. Montenol was a fief of the chapter, and Epauvillers remained in the provostship until 1792. Saint-Ursanne, Montmelon, Montenol and Seleute still form a single parish. District boundaries ran between them, however: Saint-Ursanne belonged to Porrentruy, Epauvillers to the Franches-Montagnes until the merger.[1][2][5][6][7][8][9]

History of Clos du Doubs

around 610-620. The monk Ursanne (Ursicinus), settled on the banks of the Doubs, dies. Around 630 a monastery rises over his tomb and becomes the core of the town.[5]

1000. Rudolph, the last king of Burgundy, gives the small town to the prince-bishops of Basel, who keep it until 1793.[5]

1139. The monastery becomes a collegiate church of secular canons. The same year a bull of Pope Innocent II confirming the chapter's possessions names Epauvillers in the form « Villare ».[5][8]

1313. The church of Saint-Arnoux at Epauvillers is incorporated into the chapter, which serves it from then on.[8]

1376-1426. The provostship is pledged in turn to Jean de Vienne, to the city of Basel and to the lords of Neuchâtel in Burgundy.[7]

1792-1793. The chapter is abolished and the provostship disappears with it. Saint-Ursanne loses its rank as chief town.[5][7]

1803. The former collegiate church becomes the parish church.[5][7]

1877. The railway line passes through Saint-Ursanne, after the tunnel towards Courgenay was bored in 1876.[5]

2007. On 22 November the small communes of the area consider forming a single commune.[1]

2008. In April the assemblies of Saint-Ursanne (7 April), Epauvillers (8 April), Montmelon (9 April), Montenol (10 April), Ocourt (14 April), Seleute (16 April) and Epiquerez (28 April) accept the merger. Soubey rejects it.[1]

2008. The Jura Parliament ratifies the merger on 3 September.[1]

2009. The new commune comes into force on 1 January.[1][2]

2009. After a competition launched in February, the coat of arms adopted on 25 June and approved by the Government is unveiled in Saint-Ursanne on 27 September.[1]

2010. Clos du Doubs invites Soubey to join the commune.[1]

2014. On 11 December voters approve a credit of 4 million francs for the redevelopment of the old town of Saint-Ursanne.[1]

Population of Clos du Doubs

Sources and references: [4][5][11][12]

Population of Clos du Doubs
around 17891'900 country people and 600 townspeople (provostship of Saint-Ursanne)
2001153 (Epauvillers, at 31 December)
200188 (Epiquerez, at 31 December)
200188 (Montenol, at 31 December)
2001103 (Montmelon, at 31 December)
2001139 (Ocourt, at 31 December)
2001722 (Saint-Ursanne, at 31 December)
200179 (Seleute, at 31 December)
20121'278 (at 31 December)
20241'304

Historic sites in Clos du Doubs

Communal administration. Its seat is the Hôtel de Ville of Saint-Ursanne.[3]

Collegiate church and cloister (Saint-Ursanne). Rebuilt after 1139, the church received its south portal around 1200. The present cloister dates from the 14th century. Together with the former church of Saint-Pierre, the ensemble is a cultural property of national importance.[5][10]

Bridge over the Doubs (Saint-Ursanne). A flood swept the bridge away in 1670. The present structure, the Saint-Jean-Népomucène bridge, was completed in 1729. It is a cultural property of national importance.[5][10]

Railway viaduct (Saint-Ursanne). Built in 1887 together with the station, the twelve-arch viaduct was strengthened in 1929-1930.[5][10]

Church of Saint-Arnoux (Epauvillers). Destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, it was rebuilt at the end of the 17th century, altered in 1840 and 1860, then renovated in 1965.[8][10]

Chapel of Montenol. Built in 1817, it was first dedicated to St Anne, then in 1881 to Our Lady of Lourdes. Four years after it was built, in 1821, a fire reduced almost the whole village to ashes.[6]

Sources

  1. Chronologie jurassienne, « Clos du Doubs, commune »
  2. 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)
  3. Commune de Clos du Doubs, « Contact »
  4. Statistique Jura, « Mémento statistique Jura 2025 » (population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2024)
  5. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « Saint-Ursanne », fiche 2432
  6. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « Montenol », fiche 2402
  7. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Saint-Ursanne (village) » (Jean-Paul Prongué, version du 18.05.2020)
  8. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Epauvillers » (Claude Rebetez, version du 18.05.2020)
  9. Commune de Clos du Doubs, « Histoire »
  10. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du canton du Jura (état au 1.1.2026)
  11. Bureau de la statistique du canton du Jura, tableaux 1.1.020 et 1.2.020, « Communes classées selon le nombre croissant d'habitants » (population résidante au 31.12.2001)
  12. Statistique Jura, tableau JU-1.2.11, « Population résidante permanente des communes, selon la nationalité et le sexe, au 31 décembre 2012 »

Localities of the municipality with a page

Other villages near Clos du Doubs

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