Aix-en-Othe is a former commune in the Aubedepartment in the Champagne-Ardennes region of north-central France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis. It is the seat of Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis, and of the canton of Aix-en-Othe. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aixois or Aixoises The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.
Geography
Aix-en-Othe is located in the western part of the department of the Aube, 25 km west of Troyes 30 km and 40 km east of Sens. It is in the Nosle valley: the Nosle is a tributary of the Vanne river. The motorway E54/E511/A5 passes west to east about 2 km north of the commune. The road D374 comes south from the motorway to the town and passes through the commune to Villemoiron-en-Othe. Several other district roads pass through the commune: the D31 from the west and continuing to the north, the D77 and D139 from the south, the D194 from the south-east and the D121 from the east. The nearest railway station is outside the commune about 3 km north of the town near Villemaur-sur-Vanne accessible from the D374 road. The Nosle stream flows through the commune from the south-east to the north-west and into the Vanne river. There are forests in the south and north of the commune which is mostly farmland. There are a number of hamlets in the commune. These are: La Vove, Le Jarc, Druisy, Pitoite, Les Cornees Alexandre, Les Cornees Lalliat, La Bouillant, Le Mineroy, and Les Chevreux in the southern corner.
The War Memorial. Inaugurated on 27 September 1902, it includes the names of the dead soldiers of France in 1870-1871, the two world wars, and the dead in North Africa and TOE. On the base of the monument is a hunter in the position of an alerted sentry.
Smokestacks from the 19th century. There are two of them with a height of 30 to 40 metres. They are from the old Hosiery factories. They testify to the type of industrial activity in their time.
Religious heritage
The commune has two religious buildings that are registered as historical monuments:
The Chapel of Saint-Avit
The Church of the Nativity. The church contains a very large number of items that are registered as historical objects. For a complete list with links to descriptions and photographs .
Notable People linked to the commune
Ernest Millot, explorer. In his expedition to the Red River from 1872-1873 he sought a waterway to bring to Tonkin the immense wealth of Yunnan. Ernest Millot was also mayor of the Shanghai French Concession
Jacques Chéreau, sculptor, was born in Aix-en-Othe. He has exhibited in Napa as well as Geneva, Brisbane, Miami, and San Francisco. His works are on permanent display in the Michelle Boullet Gallery in Paris, the Cafmeyer gallery in Knokke, and recently at the Marie Ricco gallery in Calvi.
Joachim du Bellay, in his "Ode to the Prince of Melphe" Antoine Caraccioli lauded Aiz, as follows:
Go, see my sweet companion The sweet pleasures of the Champaigne Its fields, its waves and woods. .......... Go and see this beautiful edifice That nature and artifice Have embellished with a hundred pleasures. This is Aiz that beautiful abode Only to be torn away in less than an hour Our most ambitious desires. There, a pleasant sorrow The certainty fleeing across the plain Where the hares follow us; There saintly solitude Far from trials and business affairs, Happily we live.
