Grandvaux

Grandvaux ( [ gʀɑvo ], in the local Provençal dialect [(a) grɑvo ] ) until 1 July 2011 was a municipality in the district of Lavaux -Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. They merged with Cully, Epesses, Riex and Villette (Lavaux ) for new political community Bourg -en -Lavaux.

Geography

Grandvaux is on 489 m above sea level. M., 7 km east-southeast of the canton capital Lausanne ( straight line ). The former winegrower's village is located on a ridge in the middle of the vineyards on the steep slopes of the Lavaux, on the slopes of Mont de Gourze a scenic location about 120 m above the lake level of Lake Geneva.

The area of 3.0 km ² large former municipal area comprises a portion of Lavaux on the northeastern shore of Lake Geneva ( 700 m lake shore line). The communal land extends from the shore to the north through the vineyards of Grandvaux up on the adjoining heights on the southern edge of the Joratplateaus. On the signal southwest of Mont de Gourze is 805 m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of Grandvaux. In the area of Grandvaux is the watershed between the basins of the Rhine and Rhône only just 2 km north of the shore of Lake Geneva. The extreme northern part of the former municipality area on the high plateau of Jorat is drained by the creek Neirigue already in a northerly direction to Broye and hence to the Rhine. From the municipality surface 1997 34 % came from settlements, 12% of forest and woody plants and 54% to agriculture.

The municipality Grandvaux were extended scattered settlements ( single-family ) on the southern and western slopes of the signal, the hamlet Curson (519 m above sea level. M. ) and Lallex (530 m above sea level. M. ) in the vineyards above the village and Le Tronchet ( 723 m ü. M. ) on the plateau as well as several individual farms. Neighboring communities of Grandvaux were Villette (Lavaux ), Forel ( Lavaux) and Cully.

Population

With 1985 inhabitants ( 31 December 2010) Grandvaux belonged to the medium-sized municipalities in the canton of Vaud. Of the 84.1 % inhabitants are French-speaking, German-speaking 7.0 % and 4.2 % in English (as of 2000). The population of Grandvaux amounted in 1850 to 623 residents in 1900 to 677 inhabitants. During the 20th century, the population first increased slowly. Since 1960 (808 inhabitants), the population has more than doubled; particularly during the 1980s, strong growth was registered.

Economy

Grandvaux was until the second half of the 20th century, mainly coined by farming village. Even today, the wine at the optimal sunlit slopes of the Lavaux (around 60 ha ) and crop and livestock farming on the plateaus an important place in the economic structure of the population. More jobs are available in the local small businesses and especially in the service sector. The Commercial Grandvaux is aligned next to the fast moving consumer goods also on tourism. There are several wine shops, next among builders, the computer science and architecture firms. Grandvaux has since 1977 on a new school system and since 1984 on a multi-purpose hall. Through the construction of numerous single-family homes in the past few decades, the village has developed into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who work mainly in Lausanne and in the Vevey-Montreux region.

Traffic

Grandvaux is good transport links, although the place off the main roads located on a link road from Cully to Savigny. Along the lakeshore Main road 9 The nearest motorway connections to the opened in 1974, A9 (Lausanne -Sion ), which crosses the former municipality, Belmont (in the west, around 4 km) and Chexbres (in the east, around 7 km).

On September 4, 1862, the railway line Lausanne- Fribourg was inaugurated with the Grandvaux station above the village. Only just outside the municipal area, 1 km from the village, the Cully station on the railway line from Lausanne to the Valais is (the portion Lausanne -Villeneuve was taken on April 2, 1861 in operation). For the dispersion in public transport, the bus lines 66 and 47 the Transports publics de la région lausannoise which operate on routes from Lausanne Pully respectively after Grandvaux care.

History

The territory of Grandvaux was already inhabited in Roman times, as evidenced by the remains of a settlement at Le Muret. The first written mention of the village was carried out in 1250 under the name Gravaz. Later, the names Graval and Gravaux ( 1260 ) published, Gravaulx ( 1445 ) and Grantval ( 1453). The place name is derived from the Latin word gravea ( gravel) and means gritty terrain.

Since the 13th century Grandvaux belonged to the Bishop of Lausanne. The abbey skin - Cret owned vineyards in the municipality, which she had received as a gift from the counts of Gruyères. With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536 Grandvaux came under the administration of the Bailiwick of Lausanne. After the collapse of the ancien régime, the village belonged from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic to the canton of Geneva, who came up then with the enactment of the Act of Mediation in the canton of Vaud. 1798 was assigned to the district of Lavaux.

Grandvaux was always dependent on Villette. It was not until 1824, when the larger municipality was divided Villette, Grandvaux gained the status of an independent political community. A project for the merger of the five independent municipalities today Cully, Epesses, Riex, Grandvaux and Villette (Lavaux ) failed in a vote on 27 February 2005 on the resistance of the population of Grandvaux. The project will therefore provisionally not pursued.

Attractions

The present parish church of Saint -Nicolas in the town center was built in 1636. From the former church only the Romanesque bell-tower (originally from the 12th century ) were obtained.

The old center of Grandvaux has retained the character of a typical wine village with narrow streets and houses dating from the 16th to the 19th century. These are the house Maillardoz ( 16th century ) with late Gothic windows and a large roof and the house Buttin de Lois, a complex of buildings from the 17th and 18th century with a significant renaissance hall. This complex belongs since 1941, the Association du Vieux Lausanne and houses a museum of local history.

Personalities

The cartoonist Hugo Pratt lived from 1984 until his death in 1995 Grandvaux. In his honor, a life-size statue of its most famous comic book character Corto Maltese was erected next to City Hall in 2007.

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