History of the villages of the Conthey district (Valais)
The 23 documented localities of the Conthey 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 21
Aproz
A village of the municipality of Nendaz on the Rhône, Aproz saw its bridge disputed from 1348 and its mineral springs used since 1947.
VSArdon
Around 1850 the Ardon foundries, in operation since 1810, employed nearly 600 workers: the largest business in Valais at the time.
VSAven
Aven, a village in the municipality of Conthey on the road to Derborence, keeps two chapels: Saint-Bernard, built in 1700, and Saint-Antoine, blessed in 1863.
VSBaar
Near Baar, a village of the municipality of Nendaz, slab graves of the Late Neolithic have yielded black pottery.
VSBasse-Nendaz
The main village of the municipality of Nendaz keeps beneath its church of Saint-Léger the crypt of a chapel from the 9th to 10th century.
VSBeuson
A village of the municipality of Nendaz, Beuson was as populous as Basse-Nendaz in the 18th and 19th centuries and was the municipality's industrial centre.
VSBieudron
The Bieudron power station, in the municipality of Nendaz, holds three world records. The rupture of its penstock on 12 December 2000 shut it down for almost ten years.
VSBrignon
Seat of a majorie recorded around 1250, Brignon, a village of the municipality of Nendaz, saw a Savoyard castle rise and vanish within a few years.
VSChamoson
On the Losentse fan, the largest vineyard in Valais, grown from 50 hectares in 1880 to about 425 around 1990. A mineral, chamosite, bears the village's name.
VSClèbes
A village of the municipality of Nendaz, Clèbes belonged to the abbey of Saint-Maurice from 1289 and was rebuilt entirely in stone after the fire of 8 August 1904.
VS · TownConthey
Savoy's chief town in central Valais in the Middle Ages, Conthey reaches up to Derborence, where the 1749 rockfall, the largest in Switzerland in historical times, blocked the cirque.
VSErde
At Erde, in the municipality of Conthey, the church of the Holy Family, built in 1927, has its nave in Erde but its choir and bell tower in Premploz.
VSFey
A village of the municipality of Nendaz known for its apricots, Fey had its own métralie in the 14th century, held by the de la Tour-Châtillon family.
VSHaute-Nendaz
Called « Nenda superior » from 985, Haute-Nendaz, a village of the municipality of Nendaz, became a ski resort with its first gondola in 1958.
VSNendaz
At Brignon, Count Peter II of Savoy had a castle built around 1261, then ordered it destroyed as early as 1266. Its ruins can still be seen.
VSPlan-Conthey
Plan-Conthey, in the municipality of Conthey, has yielded a Roman villa whose burial vault held lead coffins and twelve 4th-century glass vessels.
VSSaclentse
A village of the municipality of Nendaz, Saclentse has had since 1922 a chapel of Saint-Joseph whose bell rang at Basse-Nendaz before 1794.
VSSaint-Pierre-de-Clages
Saint-Pierre-de-Clages, a village in the municipality of Chamoson, grew up around a Benedictine priory and its Romanesque church, mentioned from 1153.
VSSaint-Séverin
Saint-Séverin, a wine-growing village in the municipality of Conthey, grew up around a Romanesque church built between 1120 and 1150 that became a parish church before the end of the 12th century.
VSSiviez
The resort of Super-Nendaz was created in 1965 at Siviez, in the municipality of Nendaz, on a then uninhabited area reached by road since 1946.
VSVétroz
Separated from Conthey in 1862, Vétroz and Magnot form a wine-growing municipality in central Valais, attached to the native Amigne grape.
Sites 2
Château de Brignon
Built around 1261 at Brignon, in the municipality of Nendaz, by Count Peter II of Savoy, this castle was destroyed as early as 1266. Its ruins are still visible.
VS · SiteDerborence
Derborence, a site in the municipality of Conthey, owes its lake to the rockfall of 1749, which followed the 1714 rockfall that killed some fifteen people.