Oslon

Oslon
Town hall
Oslon
Location within Burgundy region Oslon
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Chalon-sur-Saône
Canton	Chalon-sur-Saône-Sud
Intercommunality	Le grand Chalon
Area1	4.76 km2 (1.84 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	1,260
• Density	260/km2 (690/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	71333 / 71380
Elevation	179–214 m (587–702 ft) (avg. 178 m or 584 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Oslon is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.

History

The village was founded circa 1850 when the French postal services installed a forepost alongside the railroad. Previously the region had been populated by diverse immigration which started under the Roman Empire, which had a great commercial route (the Appian Way) and stopover a few miles away in the city of Autun.

Oslon was the first city where the fighters of the Resistance went when they entered the free zone after the German invasion of France during World War II. The Germans stopped just outside Chalon-sur-Saône. Many Frenchmen died trying to swim across to Oslon and the free zone.

Specialties of the area

The Burgundy "Bresse" area, which starts at Oslon and finishes north and east of Lyon, is famous as the prime area for escargot. It also produces good wines.

People

The most famous people from the village are Nicephore Niepce, who invented modern photography, and the tycoon family which created Rhone-Poulenc, the French Fortune 200 conglomerate.

See also

• Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department

References

• INSEE