Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne


Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a subprefecture of the Savoie department, in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in southeastern France.
It lies in the Maurienne, the valley of the river Arc. It was also an Episcopal See of Savoy during the Ancien Régime and again from 1825 to 1966. Its original name was simply Maurienne, or Moriana in Italian and Latin.

Geography

Location

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is located at the confluence of the Arc, a river which has shaped the Maurienne Valley, and the which descends the Arves Valley.
The neighbouring communes of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne are Saint-Julien-Mont-Denis, Jarrier, Hermillon, Villargondran, Albiez-le-Jeune, Albiez-Montrond, Saint-Pancrace and Pontamafrey-Montpascal.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is close to Albertville, Chambery, Grenoble, Turin and Lyon.

Climate

The climate is the alpine type because of the presence of the Alpine Massif.
CitySunshineRainSnowStormFog------
Paris1797 hrs/yr/yr15 days/yr19 days/yr13 days/yr
------
Nice2694 hrs/yr/yr1 day/yr31 days/yr1 day/yr
Strasbourg1637 hrs/yr/yr30 days/yr29 days/yr65 days/yr
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne1970 hrs/yr/yr... days/yr... days/yr... days/yr
National average1973 hrs/yr/yr14 days/yr22 days/yr40 days/yr

Lines of communication and transport

Roads

  • Route nationale 6
  • A43 autoroute
  • Col de la Croix de Fer

    Railway

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is on the route of the future Lyon-Turin rail link. Homes, businesses, the current railway station and the rescue centre are affected by the project. The Lyon Turin Railway company which manages the construction projects plans to build new railway station in the Sous-le-Bourg neighborhood, serving both the historic line and the new Lyon-Turin line. Geological and topographical investigations are underway. The project promises to be even more complex than that of the Channel Tunnel.

Public transport

The town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is equipped with a network of public transport run by the.

Air

A heliport is available for the helicopter of the gendarmerie whose base is located in Modane.

Urbanism

Urban morphology

La Bastille, Les Chaudannes and Les Clapeys are the three main quarters.

Housing

The total number of dwellings in the commune is 4,240. Among such housing, 87.9% are principal residences, 5.4% are secondary homes and 6.7% are vacant dwellings. These accommodations have a share of 17.5% as individual houses, 79.3% as apartments and finally only 3.2% as dwellings of another type. The number of residents who own their homes is 37.9%. This is lower than the national average which adds up to nearly 55.3%. The number of tenants is 56.7% throughout the housing which is higher than the national average of 39.8%. It may be noted also that 5.4% of the inhabitants of the commune are people who are housed for free while at the level of the whole of the France the percentage is 4.9%. Still on all of the municipality housing, 3.5% are studios, 11.5% are two-room housing, 28.4% have three, 34.5% of dwellings have four rooms, and 22.1% of dwellings have five rooms or more.

Development projects

Toponymy

The locality named is after John the Baptist, the precursor, son of Zechariah and Saint Elizabeth, cousin of Jesus, beheaded in 31 AD at the request of the Princess Salome.
The Latin name is Mauriana.

History

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has been the capital of the Maurienne Valley since the 6th century. After Saint Thècle reported from Alexandria the relics of St. John the Baptist, which are the three fingers represented on the arms of the city, as well as on the Opinel knife blades, the town was raised to the rank of diocese by Guntram, grandson of Clovis I.
In 753, Grifo went to Italy to join the King of the Lombards, Aistulf, the most powerful opponent of his half-brother, the King of the Franks, Pepin the Short, but he was killed at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne by the men of Pepin.
The oldest possessions of the Counts of Savoy were the counties of Maurienne, Savoy proper, and Belley, with Bugey as its chief town.
The Duchy of Savoy, which had been a French-speaking province under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, was invaded by Revolutionary France, but restored to Piedmont in 1815. It became part of France in 1859, after the Second Italian War of Independence.
The Aix-les-Bains—Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne railway opened in 1857.
In the early 1900s, the technological advances of Swiss hydroelectric power were originally the subject of intense stock market speculation on hydroelectric companies, which benefitted the Maurienne Valley with industrial facilities, and tourism took off.

Politics and administration

The city of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a sub-prefecture of Savoie. It is the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, the canton of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and the.
The city of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is part of Savoie's 3rd constituency.

Political trends and outcomes

Traditionally, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has been a stronghold of the Socialist left from the 1930s because of the importance of its worker labor pool. Thus, Roland Merloz was the Socialist mayor from 1977 to 2008. But since the 1990s and sociological changes in the Maurienne, the right-wing vote has increased. A UMP Councillor General, Pierre-Marie Charvoz, was elected in 2001, Nicolas Sarkozy was in the lead in the two rounds of the presidential elections of 2007, with respectively 33.5% and 56.62%, and in 2008, Pierre-Marie Charvoz won the communal elections.

Municipal government

The city council of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has 29 members. It is composed of a mayor, seven assistants, four delegate councillors and seventeen councillors.
Roland Merloz, mayor of the city since 1977, announced his desire not to stand in 2008.
The following is the share of seats in the municipal council of Saint Jean de Maurienne:
PartyMain candidateSeatsStatus
UMPPierre-Marie Charvoz23Majority
Union of the LeftHervé Bottino6Opposition

In the municipal elections of March 2008, turnout of the first round was 65.46% with a total of 5,310 people registered to vote in the commune. The number of voters amounted to 3,476 voters which 3,393 expressed themselves. In the first round, the presidential majority list of Ensemble pour Saint Jean with its head, Pierre-Marie Charvoz collected 46.95% of the vote or 1,593 votes. Followed by the list of "Saint Jean 10,000" led by Hervé Bottino, having received 34.39% of the vote or 1,169 votes. In third position, Saint Jean à venir list, headed by Christine Merlin got 13.26% of the votes or 450 votes. Finally the list Vivons Saint Jean , led by Florence Arnoux Le Bras got 5.39% or 183 votes.
In the second round, the turnout was 68.57%. The number of voters amounted to 3,642 voters with 3,509 expressing themselves. In the second round, the presidential majority list of Ensemble pour Saint Jean with its head, Pierre-Marie Charvoz collected 55.40% of the vote or 1,944 votes and won 23 seats. The list of "Saint Jean 10 000" conducted by Hervé Bottino, received 44.60% of the vote or 1,565 votes and was therefore awarded 6 seats. The other lists were not present in the second round.

List of mayors

Twin towns – sister cities

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is twinned with:

Demography

The population structure of the commune of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 2017:
The total number of households in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is 3,729. These households are not all equal in numbers of individuals. Some of these households contain one, others two, three, four, five or even more than six people. Here, below, is the data as a percentage of the distribution of these households, compared to the total number of households.

Teaching

Kindergartens:
  • Aristide-Briand kindergarten
  • Des Clapeys kindergarten
  • Des Chaudannes kindergarten
  • Saint-Joseph kindergarten - Closed in 2015
Primary schools:
  • Aristide-Briand primary school
  • Des Clapeys primary school
  • Des Chaudannes primary school
  • Saint-Joseph Primary school - Closed in 2015
Collèges:
  • Public college: Maurienne collège
  • Private college: Saint-Joseph collège - Closed in 2015
High schools:
  • Paul Héroult general and technology lycée
  • Paul Héroult professional lycée

    Cultural events and festivities

  • In 2006, starting the stage of cycling's Tour de France to Morzine. The stage winner was Floyd Landis, after a stage.
  • Festival of music, Saturday, 20 June 2009
  • Festival of Saint Jean, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2009
  • An outdoor cinema every Tuesday and entertainment every Thursday in July and August
  • Passage of multiple cycle races throughout the summer
  • Festival of bread, Thursday, 6 August 2009
  • 10km de Saint-Jean in October
  • Various entertainments throughout the year
  • Salon des vins et saveurs, during the 3rd weekend in November, organized by the ''association verres et verines du cœur''