Aiglun, Alpes-Maritimes

Aiglun (French pronunciation: [ɛɡlœ̃]) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France.

Aiglun
Commune
A general view of the village
Coat of arms
Location of Aiglun
Aiglun Aiglun
Coordinates: 43°51′30″N 6°54′54″E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement	Grasse
Canton	Vence
Intercommunality	Alpes d'Azur
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Anthony Salomone
Area 1	15.37 km2 (5.93 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	93
• Density	6.1/km2 (16/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	06001 /06910
Elevation	373–1,541 m (1,224–5,056 ft) (avg. 624 m or 2,047 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Aiglun is a remote mountain commune some 40 km north-east of Nice in a straight line. There are only two access routes to the commune - the first by Highway D17 from Roquesteron to the east. Heading west on Highway D17 continue left onto Highway D10 which continues via a mountainous route into the commune and the village of Aiglun. The other access is the continuation of Highway D10 west from Aiglun over a circuitous mountain route to Le Mas. The Estéron river passes through the commune south of the village and forms part of the western border of the commune as well as a small portion of the eastern border. Numerous streams feed into this river in the commune.

The northern part of the commune consists of high snow-capped mountains while the southern part is less high mountains. There are few roads however there are four hamlets in the Esteron Valley: Vascogne, Les Lones, Le Colombier, and L'Escle.

History

In 1388 the village of Aiglun was under the protection of the House of Savoy like the rest of the region during the "Dédition of Nice to Savoy" from 1388.

At the Treaty of Turin on 24 March 1760, the commune became French (the kingdom of France and that of Sardinia then proceeded to boundary adjustments and therefore there was an exchange of territories).

Toponymy

The name of the town appears for the first time in texts around 1200 in the form Ayglezuni. This was derived from the Latin word Aquila, meaning "eagle", and the Gallic dunum, meaning "height" and signifies as a whole the "height of the eagle".

Heraldry

Arms of Aiglun

Blazon: Azure, a spread eagle of Argent over a salmon the same.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aiglun

Mayors from 1870 to 1942

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1870	1874	Jean-Baptiste GRANIER
1874	1876	Antoine BERNARD
1876	1878	Louis BERNARD
1878	1881	Auguste BONNEFROI
1881	1884	Désiré MARTEL
1884	1888	Joseph DAUMAS
1888	1896	Désiré MARTEL
1896	1900	Jean-Pierre JAUME
1900	1901	Pierre GUIZOL
1901	1912	Joseph ROBIN
1912	1920	Jean-Pierre JAUME
1920	1942	Antoine ROUX

The Town Hall

Mayors from 1942

From	To	Name	Party
1942	1945	François Blanc
1945	1978	Pierre Martin
1978	2001	Marius Blanc
2001	2005	Irene Montiglio	SE
2005	2014	Charles Bremond	DVD
2014	2020	Didier Nicolas
2020	Current	Anthony Salomone

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aiglenois or Aiglenoises in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 240 —     1800 203 −2.36% 1806 261 +4.28% 1821 250 −0.29% 1831 266 +0.62% 1836 248 −1.39% 1841 351 +7.19% 1846 366 +0.84% 1851 380 +0.75% 1856 344 −1.97% 1861 286 −3.63% 1866 286 +0.00% 1872 272 −0.83% 1876 268 −0.37% 1881 218 −4.05% 1886 187 −3.02% 1891 241 +5.20% 1896 175 −6.20%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 150 −3.04% 1906 152 +0.27% 1911 142 −1.35% 1921 100 −3.45% 1926 115 +2.83% 1931 110 −0.89% 1936 123 +2.26% 1946 95 −2.55% 1954 90 −0.67% 1962 58 −5.34% 1968 50 −2.44% 1975 70 +4.92% 1982 94 +4.30% 1990 91 −0.40% 1999 106 +1.71% 2007 92 −1.76% 2012 91 −0.22% 2017 91 +0.00%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

The Estéron river

Aiglun War Memorial

Sites and Monuments

The village is known for its steep climbing walls over 200 metres high with high difficulty routes. The Aiglun canyon is also popular for canyoning enthusiasts.

Aiglun Picture Gallery

• 
  The Village
• 
  First tunnel on the road to the village
• 
  The bridge entering Aiglun
• 
  The cliff road into Aiglun
• 
  An Oratory in the cliff face
• 
  The entry to Aiglun
• 
  Main entrance to Aiglun
• 
  Aiglun Water Trough
• 
  Aiglun Church

Notable people

• Fanny Robiane. Daughter of Joseph Robin, who was mayor of Aiglun in the early 20th century, this French theatre actress died in 1982 at Aiglun, where she retired and she has left a rich archive (autographed books, including by Armand Godoy, Jean-Richard Bloch and others; pictures; clippings, etc.). Her memory is still alive with the people of Aiglun (the Aiglenois) who knew her and plans are underway to honour her. A cultural association sponsored among others by the commune and the General Council launched since 2004 called "Fanny Robiane Encounter" devoted to theatre, poetry, music and other one-time cultural events are scheduled throughout the year. Sometimes these events are carried out in collaboration with the University of Nice.

See also

• Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department
• Yves Bernard, The Tourist and Cultural Directory of the Alpes-Maritimes and Monaco, p. 149 Publishing Campanile, 1997 (ISBN 978-2-912366-00-9)

External links

• Official website for Aiglun (in French)
• Aiglun on the old IGN website (in French)
• Aiglun on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Aiglun on the 1750 Cassini Map