Balbins

Balbins
Part of Ornacieux-Balbins
The Balbins Cemetery oil painting in 1888 by Johan Barthold Jongkind
Location of Balbins
Balbins Balbins
Coordinates: 45°23′40″N 5°13′00″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Isère
Arrondissement	Vienne
Canton	Bièvre
Commune	Ornacieux-Balbins
Area 1	7.26 km2 (2.80 sq mi)
Population  (2019)	454
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code	38260
Elevation	347–530 m (1,138–1,739 ft) (avg. 150 m or 490 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Balbins (French pronunciation: [balbɛ̃]) is a former commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Ornacieux-Balbins.

Geography

Balbins is located some 40 km north-west of Grenoble just west of La Côte-Saint-André. Access to the commune is by the D73 from La Côte-Saint-André which passes through the commune just south of the village and continues west to Penol. The D518A passes through the east of the commune linking the D71 south of La Côte-Saint-André to the D518 north-west of La Côte-Saint-André. The commune is almost entirely farmland with urban area of the village merging with that of Ornacieux.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
2008	2019	Anne Marie Amice

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Balbinois or Balbinoises in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 248 —     1800 250 +0.11% 1806 342 +5.36% 1821 346 +0.08% 1831 386 +1.10% 1836 396 +0.51% 1841 410 +0.70% 1846 415 +0.24% 1851 389 −1.29% 1856 429 +1.98% 1861 403 −1.24% 1866 387 −0.81% 1872 394 +0.30% 1876 392 −0.13% 1881 405 +0.65% 1886 369 −1.84% 1891 335 −1.91% 1896 326 −0.54%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 341 +0.90% 1906 327 −0.83% 1911 316 −0.68% 1921 278 −1.27% 1926 272 −0.44% 1931 308 +2.52% 1936 306 −0.13% 1946 285 −0.71% 1954 256 −1.33% 1962 233 −1.17% 1968 205 −2.11% 1975 257 +3.28% 1982 313 +2.86% 1990 363 +1.87% 1999 371 +0.24% 2007 394 +0.75% 2012 394 +0.00%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Sites and monuments

The Chateau of Armanet in 1913

• The Buissonnière Tower is the last vestige of the fortified house that stood there; it was the possession of Miribel, Salignon, and Côte Saint-André.
• The Chateau of Armanet was a former Templar fortified house

Notable people linked to the commune

• Félicien de Mons de Savasse, born in the Chateau of Armanet, Knight and Commander of the Order of Malta in 1760.

See also

• Communes of the Isère department

External links

• Balbins official website (in French)
• St Balbin on the 1750 Cassini Map