Dabo, Moselle

Commune in Grand Est, France

Coat of arms

Location of Dabo

(2020–2026) Eric Weber^[1]Area

48.12 km² (18.58 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

2,366 • Density49/km² (130/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

57163 /57850

Elevation236–945 m (774–3,100 ft)
(avg. 660 m or 2,170 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Dabo (German: Dagsburg) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

History

Previous names:^[3] Dasburch (1188), Dasburg (1189) Dagesburg (1227), Tagesburg (1239), Dagespurg (1313), Dachspurg (1576).
An informal Franco-German summit between President Mitterrand and Chancellor Kohl took place in Dabo July 19, 1983.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	3,008	—
1975	2,982	−0.12%
1982	2,913	−0.33%
1990	2,789	−0.54%
1999	2,780	−0.04%
2007	2,658	−0.56%
2012	2,639	−0.14%
2017	2,522	−0.90%
Source: INSEE^[4]

Culture and main sights

Dabo Rock and Saint-Léon chapel

Dabo is mainly known for its rock, named "le Rocher de Dabo", in French. It is a pink sandstone rock crowned by the Saint-Léon chapel. Before the building of this religious site, there was a medieval castle.^[5]

This place used to be a celtic worship site. Nowadays, legends are still told about the rock.^[5]

The chapel on top of the rock
A part of the rock, in the forest
A medieval illustration of the castle

The troglodyte houses

Two troglodyte houses are still visible today in Dabo. They were inhabited until 1902.^[6] Nowadays, tourists and hiking enthusiasts can still visit this place.

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Dictionnaire géographique de la Meurthe - Henri Lepage
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
^ ^a ^b "SAINT-LÉON CHAPEL - DABO ROCK". Pays de Phalsbourg Tourisme.
^ "Maisons troglodytiques de Dabo". tourisme-lorraine.fr.