Aix-les-Bains is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in the
SavoieSavoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps....
department in the
Rhône-AlpesRhône-Alpes is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
regionFrance is administratively divided into 25 regions , of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in south-eastern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
It lies near the
Lac du BourgetThe lac du Bourget is a lake in the Savoie département of France. It is the largest and the deepest lake of the country. The most important town on its shore is Aix-les-Bains. Chambéry, the préfecture of Savoie, lies about 10 km south of the lake. The lake is named after the town Le...
, by rail north of
ChambéryChambéry is commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made it his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry was founded at...
.
Aix derives from
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
Aquae (literally, "waters";
cf Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) or
Aix-en-ProvenceAix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city in southern France, some north of Marseille...
), and Aix was a bath during the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, even before it was renamed
Aquae Gratianae to commemorate the Emperor Gratian, who was assassinated not far away, in
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
, in 383.
Aix-les-Bains is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in the
SavoieSavoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps....
department in the
Rhône-AlpesRhône-Alpes is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
regionFrance is administratively divided into 25 regions , of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in south-eastern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
It lies near the
Lac du BourgetThe lac du Bourget is a lake in the Savoie département of France. It is the largest and the deepest lake of the country. The most important town on its shore is Aix-les-Bains. Chambéry, the préfecture of Savoie, lies about 10 km south of the lake. The lake is named after the town Le...
, by rail north of
ChambéryChambéry is commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made it his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry was founded at...
.
History
Aix derives from
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
Aquae (literally, "waters";
cf Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) or
Aix-en-ProvenceAix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city in southern France, some north of Marseille...
), and Aix was a bath during the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, even before it was renamed
Aquae Gratianae to commemorate the Emperor Gratian, who was assassinated not far away, in
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
, in 383. Numerous Roman remains survive.
Geography
The town lies at an altitude of about 250m 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 1562m. 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.
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.
Miscellaneous
The hot
sulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals...
springs, have a temperature of from 109° to 113 °F (43-45 °C), are still much frequented, attracting annually many thousands of visitors. They are used for drinking as well as for
hydrotherapyHydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy involves the use of water for soothing pains and treating diseases.Its use has been recorded in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations. Egyptian royalty bathed with essential oils and flowers, while Romans had communal public baths for their...
. The water can get hot enough to burn the skin.
Art museum
The
Faure MuseumThe Faure Museum is an art museum situated at Aix-les-Bains in France in the department of Savoie. It is a museum of France, according to the law n°2002-5 of January 4 2002. It was founded in 1949 and comprised initially artworks from the private collection of Doctor Jean Faure , bequeathed to the...
, an art museum is situated at Aix-les-Bains. It was founded in 1949 and comprised the second collection in France of works from
RodinRodin may refer to:* Auguste Rodin , French sculptor, for whom is named:** The Musée Rodin in Paris, France.** The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, U.S.A.** The Rodin Gallery in Seoul, South Korea.** Rodin , a crater on the Moon....
and the second collection of impressionist paintings of France.
Motor sports and cycling
From 1949 to 1961, Aix les Bains had a temporary race track, called
Circuit du LacAix les Bains, Savoie, France had a temporary race track, called Circuit du Lac, that hosted Formula 2, Formula Junior and Motorcycle Grand Prix races. It hosted events from 1949 to 1961.-Introduction:...
(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 audience.
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. Also, in 1996 and 2001, a stage arrived in Aix-les Bains, with Dutchman Michael Boogerd and Russian Serguei Ivanov as winners,respectively
Twin towns
Aix Les Bains is twinned with:
KislovodskKislovodsk is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia. It lies in the North Caucasian region of Russia, between the Black and Caspian seas. The closest airport is located in the city of Mineralnye Vody. Population:...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
MilenaMilena is a comune in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about 80 km southeast of Palermo and about 30 km west of Caltanissetta...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
Moulay YacoubMoulay Yacoub is one of the provinces of F%C3%A8s-Boulemane region of Morocco. It had a population of 150,422 as per the 2004 census report. "Moulay Yacoub" is also the name of a town within the prefecture. The thermal Moulay Yacoub Spring is near the town....
,
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
FairbanksFairbanks is a Home Rule City in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
,
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
External links