History of the villages of the Brig district (Valais)

The 19 documented localities of the Brig district, in the canton of Valais. Each page covers the origin of the name, the main stages of its history and its remains, with sources.

Towns and villages 16

Belalp

Above Naters, the Belalp hotel, which grew out of an inn of 1858, welcomed John Tyndall, first to climb the Weisshorn, every summer from 1861 to 1893.

Birgisch

In 1379 the chapel of St John the Baptist at Birgisch, linked to a hermitage, belonged to the Knights Hospitaller.

Blatten b. Naters

Recorded in 1231 as «Platon», Blatten became the centre of the Natischer Berg around its chapel of St Theodul, and a holiday resort from 1934.

VS · Town

Brig-Glis

At the foot of the Simplon, Brig-Glis has united Brig, Glis and Brigerbad since 1972, and its chancellery sits in the castle Kaspar Stockalper had built in 1658-1678.

Brigerbad

In the 16th century the thermal springs of Brigerbad were among the most important baths in Switzerland, and they still were in 1690.

Eggerberg

A scattered settlement above Visp, Eggerberg saw its population rise to 622 in 1910 with the building of the Lötschberg line. It is set to merge with Visp in 2027.

Gabi

Called «Algaby» in Napoleon's decree of 1800, Gabi marked a limit of the Simplon road works, and its chapel dates from 1816.

Gamsen

At Gamsen, villages followed one another from the Bronze Age to the 3rd century, and a medieval wall nearly 2 km long barred the Rhône valley.

Glis

Since the 14th century, Upper Valais pilgrims have come to Our Lady of Glis, a place of worship where a church already stood around 500.

Gondo

At the southern foot of the Simplon, on the Italian border, the landslide of 14 October 2000 destroyed a third of Gondo and killed 13 people.

Mund

The only place in Switzerland where saffron is traditionally grown, a crop revived in 1979 by the saffron guild.

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Naters

More than 30'000 skulls are stacked in the ossuary Ulrich Ruffiner built in 1514 at Naters, the former episcopal centre of Upper Valais opposite Brig.

Ried-Brig

Above Brig, on the Simplon road, the medieval hamlets of Ried-Brig joined into a municipality that adopted statutes in 1563, now a sought-after residential place.

Simplon

Probably settled by Walser before 1200, the village on the south side of the pass lived from Simplon traffic. Its decline and the 1906 railway tunnel made it a village of emigration.

Termen

Burned by French troops in 1799, Termen now bottles some 10 million bottles of mineral water a year at z'Matt.

Zwischbergen

In this Simplon municipality surrounded on three sides by Italy, the gold mining company struck its own coins until it went bankrupt in 1896.

Sites 3

VS · Site