Raon-aux-Bois | |
|---|---|
 The town hall in Raon-aux-Bois | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Raon-aux-Bois  | |
  Raon-aux-Bois  Raon-aux-Bois | |
| Coordinates:48°03′26″N6°31′18″E / 48.0572°N 6.5217°E /48.0572; 6.5217 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Vosges |
| Arrondissement | Épinal |
| Canton | Remiremont |
| Intercommunality | CA Épinal |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Christian Vitu[1] |
Area 1 | 24.05 km2 (9.29 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 1,207 |
| • Density | 50/km2 (130/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 88371 /88220 |
| Elevation | 385–591 m (1,263–1,939 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Raon-aux-Bois (French pronunciation:[ʁaɔ̃obwa]ⓘ) is acommune in theVosgesdepartment inGrand Est in northeasternFrance.
Inhabitants are calledRaonnais in French.
Raon-aux-Bois is positioned in the district known as theVôge Plateau, on the western edge of theVosges Mountains. As the name of the commune implies, the district has retained its woodland countryside, with traditional mature timberland in the south and conifer plantations to the north.
A small river, theNiche [fr], crosses the centre of the village on the way toArches where it joins up with theMoselle. The river's source is in the Forest of Humont to the south.
The word 'Raon' is believed to share the same root as the English word 'ravine', and to indicate, in this instance, the confluenceof several streams; here the Champée, the Prés Roussel and the Racine all feed into the Niche.
The earliest traces of human activity date back only to the late Middle Ages, suggesting that throughout and beyond the first millennium the thick forest of this part ofLorraine were left to nature.
Deuring the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there are records of people from Raon repopulating the neighbouring village ofBellefontaine, which had been abandoned a century or so earlier, probably as a result ofplague.
There are few surviving records of Raon from its early centuries, but it is believed to have been controlled at various times by one of three lordships, while on the ecclesiastical side the church, dedicated toAmé de Remiremont, fell within theDiocese of Saint-Dié in the deanery ofRemiremont.
In 1790 the village was placed within the canton ofÉloyes, an arrangement which lasted virtually ten years. The present administrative structure is based on dispositions effected in 1800.
During the nineteenth century and well into the first part of the twentieth century, the village experienced a steady prosperity based on the spinning and starching industries.
Julien Absalon, a mountain biker born in 1980 at nearbyRemiremont, grew up at Raon-aux-Bois.
