History of the villages of the Veveyse district (Fribourg)
The 20 documented localities of the Veveyse district, in the canton of Fribourg. Each page covers the origin of the name, the main stages of its history and its remains, with sources.
Towns and villages 19
Attalens
Given away by King Lothair II in 867, Attalens yielded from its Réresse cemetery a gilded brooch showing the Virgin and the Magi, with a Greek inscription. Its castle of the lords of Oron became the seat of a Fribourg bailiwick in 1615.
FRBesencens
Besencens and Fiaugères formed a single municipality until the division of 1763. Their citizens and descendants kept their rights in both municipalities.
FRBossonnens
Around 1260 Amédée d'Oron raised a Savoyard-type round tower above Bossonnens and founded a small town between it and his castle. The town never received a charter of franchises and emptied from the 15th century.
FRBouloz
From the 12th century Bouloz was tied to the Cistercian house of Hautcrêt, whose tithe from the village grange the pope confirmed in 1155.
FR · TownChâtel-Saint-Denis
Founded at the end of the 13th century by Amadeus V of Savoy to replace the town of Fruence, Châtel-Saint-Denis had its franchises, modelled on those of Moudon, confirmed in 1336. Near the Lac de Lussy lies the oldest human trace found in the canton.
FRFiaugères
Around 1150 Fiaugères appears as "Felgeria" in the cartulary of the abbey of Hautcrêt, whose monks owned a mill there in 1273.
FRGranges (Veveyse)
Granges acquired in two stages, in 1563 and 1810, the Sâles estate, a grange given to the abbey of Hautcrêt in 1134. Since 1964 the village has made electronic components.
FRGrattavache
In the early 19th century the owner of the Semsales mines and glassworks had the model farm of La Châtelaine built at Grattavache, enlarging it onto pastures and former peat bogs.
FRLa Rougève
In 1771 the Catholics of La Rougève separated from their Protestant neighbours, whose part of the village took the name La Rogivue.
FR · Merger 2004La Verrerie
La Verrerie is named after the hamlet that grew up around a glassworks at Progens, active from the late 18th century until 1914. In the 2003 vote Le Crêt and Grattavache cast not a single vote against.
FRLe Crêt
The church of Saint-Loup at Le Crêt, built from 1887 to 1889, is a rare Gothic Revival ensemble with its original decoration, listed as a cultural property of national importance.
FR · Merger 2004Le Flon
Le Flon takes its name from the river that runs past Bouloz, Porsel and Pont. The place-names commission preferred "Porsel", but the merger commission stood by its choice.
FRLes Paccots
On 8 January 1938 Les Paccots opened its first ski lift, the third in French-speaking Switzerland. Its chapel of 1935 is said to have been built in 28 days by the young people of the Avenir.
FRPont
At Pont the lords of Illens sold their castle at Les Rochettes in 1514 to a man from Vevey, and it was abandoned. Its double ditch could still be seen at the end of the 20th century.
FRPorsel
Porsel nearly gave its name to the municipality created by the 2004 merger. Its land has yielded a Late Bronze Age axe and the remains of a Roman settlement.
FRProgens
The hamlet of La Verrerie, at Progens, grew up around a late 18th-century glassworks that made crystal and bottles until 1914. It gave its name to today's municipality.
FRRemaufens
A quarter of Châtel-Saint-Denis since the late 13th century, Remaufens became a municipality in 1806. After some 120 years of effort, its people obtained their own parish in 1835.
FRSaint-Martin
The parish of Saint-Martin once took in Porsel, Bouloz, Le Crêt, Progens and Pont, which broke away from it one by one between 1641 and 1958.
FRSemsales
Held by the Great St Bernard from 1177, Semsales is said to have been buried by a landslide in the 13th century. Its church of 1926 was largely decorated by Gino Severini.