History of the villages of the Hérens district (Valais)

The 24 documented localities of the Hérens 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

Anzère

Before the 1960s, Anzère, in the municipality of Ayent, had only five small chalets on pastureland. The resort was built there from scratch.

Argnou

At Argnou, in the municipality of Ayent, a family house brought to light in 2003 a Roman building and a fragment of an inscription in the Lepontic alphabet.

Arolla

Once a simple area of mayens in the municipality of Evolène, Arolla became a climbing resort in the late 19th century, with a Kurhaus opened in 1896 and an English chapel consecrated in 1904.

Ayent

No village is called Ayent: the name covers ten hamlets above Sion, where the first known Benedictine priory in Valais stood, and the Anzère resort.

Botyre

In Botyre, one of the three medieval « thirds » of Ayent, the Maison peinte built from 1618 to 1620 now houses the Valais museum of bisses.

Euseigne

Near Euseigne, a hamlet in the municipality of Hérémence, the Val d'Hérens road has run since 1947 through a tunnel under moraine pyramids 10 to 15 metres high, capped by boulders.

Evolène

In 1498, after families from Zermatt had settled here, two-thirds of the inhabitants spoke German. Today Evolène is one of the last French-speaking Swiss municipalities where patois is spoken.

Hérémence

Hérémence covers the whole Dixence basin, at the head of which stands the Grande Dixence dam, built from 1950 to 1964. The municipality was the capital of a dizain in 1802.

La Forclaz

In 1621 La Forclaz, a village in the municipality of Evolène on the rocks above the Borgne, provides 47 soldiers, one more than the village of Evolène itself.

La Sage

Mentioned from 1225, La Sage, a village in the municipality of Evolène on the rocks above the Borgne, saw its hotel open in 1906, before the roads could take vehicles.

Lanna

At Lanna, in the municipality of Evolène, a narrow ring-shaped lane serves the houses around a central meadow, a layout that may date back to the late Middle Ages.

At the confluence of the Borgne d'Arolla and the Borgne de Ferpècle, Les Haudères, a village in the municipality of Evolène, was in 1829 the largest settlement of the Val d'Hérens, with 333 inhabitants.

Les Mayens-de-Sion

Since the 17th century, the families of Sion have spent the summer in these mayens of the municipality of Vex, where their upper chapel came into use in 1773.

Mâche

The last year-round settlement of the Hérémence valley, at 1'300 metres, Mâche in the municipality of Hérémence received in 1942 a chapel that recalls the workers of the Dixence dams.

Mase

Former village on the right bank of the Borgne, in the Val d'Hérens, with a protected timber-built centre, now in the municipality of Mont-Noble (merger of 1 January 2011).

Nax

Village perched on a promontory at the entrance to the Val d'Hérens, whose parish church, consecrated in 1034, succeeded a Carolingian chapel.

Saint-Martin

Around 1500 some two thirds of the parishioners of this Val d'Hérens village spoke German, after people from Zermatt fleeing the plague had settled here.

Saint-Romain

The hamlet of Saint-Romain, the main village of the municipality of Ayent, bears the name of the first known Benedictine priory in Valais, attested in 1107.

Vernamiège

A village in a clearing at 1'300 m, mentioned in the late 11th century as « Vernamesia », which formed a mayoralty of the bishop of Sion with Nax.

Vex

All that remains of the Tavelli castle is a 13th-century tower with a very rare octagonal plan. Vex is the chief town of the Hérens district.

Villa

On the right bank above Evolène, Villa corresponds to the former lordship of Mont-Ville, held by the Rarogne family from the 13th century.

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