Aytua

Aytua is located east of the commune of Escaro and northwest of Thorrent, another former commune.

Originally independent, since 20 March 1822, it is linked with Escaro.^[1]

The village was surrounded by facilities for the mining and processing of iron ore, with blast furnaces operated by Givors.^[2][3]

From the beginning of the 20th century, ore was transported by a steam locomotive driven train - manufactured manufactured in Germany by the Orenstein & Koppel factories - from the Aytua galleries to the La Vista station.^[4][5] From there, outputs were moved by an incline railway to the village of Serdinya.^[6][7] From Serdinya, it could be further moved via the third-rail, electric railway that came into operation in 1910.

There was a canteen in Aytua, which also served as a dormitory, built after the First World War by the Société des mines d'Aytua, a subsidiary of the Givors blast furnaces.^[2]