La Chaux-de-Fonds

La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss town and municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, it is the fifth-largest city in the Romandie, the French-speaking part of the country, with a population (as of December 2020) of 36,915. The city was founded in 1656. Its growth and prosperity are mainly bound up with watchmaking. It is the most important centre of the watch-making industry in the area known as the Watch Valley. Partially destroyed by a fire in 1794, La Chaux-de-Fonds was rebuilt following a grid street plan, which was and is still unique among Swiss cities, the only exception being the easternmost section of the city, which was spared by the fire. It creates an exciting and obvious transition from the old section to the newer section.