Aix-les-Bains

Aix-les-Bains
Grand port aix-les-bains 1.jpg
Aix-les-Bains is located in France
Aix-les-Bains
Administration
Country France
Region Rhône-Alpes
Department Savoie
Arrondissement Chambéry
Canton Aix-Centre, Nord-Grésy, and Aix-Sud
Intercommunality Lac du Bourget
Statistics
Elevation 224–524 m (735–1,719 ft)
(avg. 320 m/1,050 ft)
Land area1 12.62 km2 (4.87 sq mi)
Population2 27,982  (2006)
 - Density 2,217 /km2 (5,740 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 73008/ 73100
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.

It lies near the Lac du Bourget, 9 km (5.6 mi) by rail north of Chambéry.

The city of Aix-les-Bains on the East side of Lake Bourget, on the right hand side of the picture

Contents

History

Aix derives from Latin Aquae (literally, "waters"; cf Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) or Aix-en-Provence), and Aix was a bath during the Roman Empire, even before it was renamed Aquae Gratianae to commemorate the Emperor Gratian, who was assassinated not far away, in Lyon, in 383. Numerous Roman ruins survive.

Lac du Bourget Promenade

Geography

The town lies at an altitude of about 250 m (820.21 ft) and stretches along the eastern end of the beautiful Lac du Bourget and up the slopes above the lake that culminate in the Tour de L'Angle Est that overlooks the town and lake at a height of 1,562 m (5,124.67 ft). The western shore of the lake is narrower as the mountains along its edge are closer to the lakeshore, although lower than those on the eastern side.[1] The lake drains out of its northern end into the Rhone river about 5 km to the north. Aix-les-Bains is situated in the hilly country of the Bugey that makes up the foothills of the Alps and also forms part of the lower western extension of the Jura Mountains.

Notable people

Art museum

The Faure Museum, an art museum is situated at Aix-les-Bains. It was founded in 1949 and comprised the second collection in France of works from Rodin and the second collection of impressionist paintings of France.

Faure Museum

Motor sports and cycling

From 1949 to 1961, Aix-les-Bains had a temporary race track, called the Circuit du Lac (lake race track), that received different events: Grand-Prix Formula 2, Formula Junior and Grand-Prix Motorcycle. Being close to Switzerland and Italy, these events always received international audiences.

On July 21, 1989, during the Tour de France, cycling great Greg LeMond won Stage 19 which ended at Aix-les-Bains in a sprint from a small group of remaining riders. In 1996 and 2001, a stage arrived in Aix-les-Bains, with Dutchman Michael Boogerd and Russian Serguei Ivanov, respectively, as the winners.

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Aix-les-Bains is twinned with:

Miscellaneous

The hot sulphur springs, have a temperature of from 109 to 113 °F (
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  - Invalid output type {4}="def", in {{Convert|109|to|113|def|...}}. ), are still much frequented, attracting annually many thousands of visitors. They are used for drinking as well as for hydrotherapy. The water can get hot enough to burn the skin.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Times Atlas of the World, 12th Edition, Times Books Group Ltd., (2007)

External links