History of the villages of the Monthey district (Valais)
The 22 documented localities of the Monthey 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
Bouveret
Called Eydier until the 16th century, Le Bouveret, in the municipality of Port-Valais, saw its port overtake that of Port-Valais, long the only Valais landing stage on Lake Geneva.
VSChampéry
Street village in the upper Val d'Illiez at the foot of the Dents du Midi, separated from Val-d'Illiez in 1839 and turned into a resort after its first hotel opened in 1857.
VSChampoussin
A resort of the municipality of Val-d'Illiez, Champoussin grew out of a district plan presented as the last link of the Portes du Soleil ski connection.
VS · Lost villageChièzes
A vanished village of the municipality of Troistorrents, Chièzes gave its name to a lordship of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice from at least 1258 until 1798.
VSChoëx
Given to the Abbey of Saint-Maurice in 1237 by Count Aymon of Savoy, Choëx, in the municipality of Monthey, remained under it until 1993.
VS · TownCollombey-Muraz
From the Neolithic graves of Barmaz to the oil refinery of 1961, by way of the Bernardine nuns who settled at Collombey in 1647.
VSIllarsaz
During the Second World War a camp for interned soldiers is set up at Illarsaz, a village in the municipality of Collombey-Muraz.
VSLes Crosets
Above Les Crosets, a resort of the municipality of Val-d'Illiez, a pass lent its name in 1965 to the Franco-Swiss Portes du Soleil ski area.
VSLes Giettes
At Les Giettes, high above Monthey, a large cross is set up on 15 August 1941 and a chapel is built in 1965.
VSMiex
Recorded as early as 1281 as « Miez », Miex is a mountain hamlet of the municipality of Vouvry, with a chapel built in 1917.
VS · TownMonthey
Born at the foot of the Château-Vieux, of which nothing remains, the Savoyard market town received its franchises in 1352. In the 20th century Monthey became a chemical industry town.
VSMorgins
An iron-rich spring brought Morgins out of obscurity in 1820, a village of the municipality of Troistorrents that later became a ski resort.
VSPort-Valais
Born around a Benedictine priory at the mouth of the Rhône, the hamlet of Port-Valais gave way to Le Bouveret, whose port replaced the old silted-up landing place.
VSRevereulaz
Revereulaz, a village of the municipality of Vionnaz, has formed with Mayen and Torgon a parish of its own since 1798, with its church in the village.
VSSaint-Gingolph
In July 1944 almost the entire population of French Saint-Gingolph crossed the Morge into Switzerland before the SS set fire to the village.
VSTaney
A mountain hamlet of the municipality of Vouvry, Taney lies by a lake whose waters have been sent to the Vouvry power station since 1901.
VSTorgon
A village of the municipality of Vionnaz, Torgon saw the founding in 1960 of Télé-Torgon SA, which built the La Jorette district with room for 4'000 beds.
VSTroistorrents
Troistorrents may never have had three torrents: its name is said to come from the Latin « Trans Torrentium », « beyond the torrent », later reread as « three torrents ».
VSVal-d'Illiez
In 1953 an earthquake made a hot spring gush out at Val-d'Illiez, north of the Dents du Midi. A spa resort has grown there since 1983.
VSVionnaz
Against the floods of the Greffaz, the Diet paid in 1742 for a great wall about 200 m long and up to 4 m wide to protect Vionnaz.
VSVouvry
A 35'000-year-old Mousterian rock shelter at Taney, the first paper mill in Valais in 1639 and the château of the Porte du Scex: Vouvry reaches from the Rhône plain to the Grammont.