Roche, Vaud

Church of Roche

Roche is a municipality in the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

Geography

Roche is situated on 390 m above sea level. Level, 6 km north- northwest of the district main town Aigle ( straight line ). The village is located on the eastern edge of the Rhone Valley, at the outlet of the mountain stream Eau Froide from the Vaud Alps, at the western foot of the heights of the Tour d' Aï.

The area of ​​6.5 km ² large municipality area includes a portion of the Rhone Valley and the adjacent slopes. In the west of the municipality floor extends far into the Rhôneebene addition to the Grand Canal. To the east the area extends over the steep, wooded and traversed by bands of rock slopes on both sides of the stream Eau Froide up to the Tête de Sauquenil ( 1'085 m asl, . Western section of the Mont d' Arvel ) and on the amount of La Sarse ( with 1,502 m above sea level. M. the highest point of Roche) at Alp Les Agites. From the municipality surface 1997 16 % came from settlements, 31 % of forest and shrubs, 51% to agriculture and slightly less than 2% was unproductive land.

Roche to include some individual farms in the Rhôneebene. Neighboring communities of Roche are Villeneuve, Corbeyrier, Yvorne, Chessel, Noville and Rennaz.

Population

With 1356 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012), Roche is one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Vaud. Of the 93.4 % inhabitants are French-speaking, German-speaking 2.0 % and 1.5 % Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Roche amounted in 1850 to 351 residents in 1900 to 528 inhabitants. During the 20th century the population grew steadily until 1970 ( 848 inhabitants). Since then, it oscillates in the range 780-880 inhabitants.

Economy

Roche was formerly a predominantly coined by farming village. Since the 16th century, a salt mine was operated. During the time in Bern Roche was until 1798 a major salt deposit for the products of the salt mines of Bex and Aigle. During the 19th century began with the mining of limestone at the site. The quarries above the village on both sides of Eau Froide are visible from afar. In 1896 the cement plant was opened.

A little to the south, and also on a slope located small quarry has produced an unusually colorful limestone, which was referred to in the past as Marbre de Roche, whose applications temporarily by the workshop radio in Bern and the Marbrerie Doret in Vevey in the crafts of the 18th century great importance obtained. A later special application is the use of the material in the interior construction of the Federal Palace in Bern.

Even today, agriculture and fruit growing in the Rhôneebene a certain role in the occupational structure of the population. In the area of the village there are some small areas planted with vines. More jobs are in small local manufacturing and services available. With the closure of belonging since 1992, the Bank Holder Ciments et Bétons cement plant in 1999 were numerous jobs lost. In recent decades, the village has developed into a residential community. Many working population commuters who work mainly in the Vevey-Montreux region.

In Roche is since 1983 the Swiss Organ Museum ( Musee Suisse de l' Orgue ), which is housed in a historic 16th-century building of a former horse-changing station on the road through the Rhône Valley.

Traffic

The community is easily accessible via. It lies on the main road 9, which runs from Lausanne Montreux via the Valais. The nearest motorway junction on the A9 was opened in 1970 (Lausanne -Sion ), which runs through the municipality, around 3 km from the town center. On June 10, 1857 Section Villeneuve -Bex the railway line from Lausanne was opened to the Valais with a station in Rochester.

History

The municipal area traces have been discovered from the Roman period. At this time, led the important trade route of Aventicum ( Avenches ) via Octodurum ( Martigny ) over the Great St. Bernard to Italy through the territory of Roche.

The first written mention of the village was carried out in 1150 under the name Rocha. Later, the names Rochi ( 1177 ), la Rochy published (1402 ) and Rochiz ( 1540). Since the Middle Ages the village belonged to his church and the hospital, the Canons of the Great Saint Bernard ( Church and Hospital remained until 1853 in their possession ).

With the conquest of domination Aigle by Bern in 1476, Roche came under the administration of the government of Aigle. As director of the Bernese salt flats themselves held the physician, poet and naturalist Albrecht von Haller 1758-1764 on in Roche. 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 Aigle. In 1861, numerous houses were a village destroyed by fire. After Roche was affected in 1896 by a large flood of Eau Froide, the torrent was diked and installed in its lower part. In August 2007, the village was again flooded and there was property damage in the millions - people, fortunately, did not come here to harm.

Attractions

In the old town of Roche some characteristic peasant and burgher houses from the 17th to 19th centuries have been preserved. The Rochester castle, a square tower flanked by a manor house, dates from the 18th century and was the stay and work of Albrecht von Haller as director of the salt works in Roche.