History of the villages of the Sierre district (Valais)
The 41 documented localities of the Sierre 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 37
Aminona
At Aminona, in the municipality of Crans-Montana, architect André Gaillard planned 23 twelve-storey towers. The 1973 oil crisis halted the project after three towers.
VSAnchettes
The château of Anchettes passed to the de Platea in 1436 and has belonged since the 16th or 17th century to the de Preux family, who still own it.
VS · Merger 2009Anniviers
The six municipalities of the Val d'Anniviers, separate since 1905, have formed a single one since 1 January 2009.
VSAyer
In the 19th century copper, nickel, cobalt and arsenic were mined on the territory of Ayer, a former municipality of the Val d'Anniviers that also included Mission and Zinal.
VSBluche
On a cattle-raising plateau in the municipality of Crans-Montana, Bluche has hosted since 1954 the Les Roches school, opened by two Clivaz brothers who grew up in the village.
VSChalais
Since the end of the Middle Ages the people of Chalais have taken their livestock up to the pastures of Vercorin. The road only arrived in 1938, the cable car in 1951.
VSChandolin
Former municipality in the Val d'Anniviers whose village, at 1'936 m, is among the highest in Switzerland, now in the municipality of Anniviers (merger of 1 January 2009).
VSChermignon
In 1910, 87 % of Chermignon's working population lived off the land, against only 5 % by 1990. In between, the Crans golf course and the hotels had arrived on its territory.
VSChippis
Cut off by the Simplon road, built on the opposite bank, Chippis only got a fixed bridge over the Rhône in 1879. The aluminium plant of 1905 turned it into an industrial town.
VSCrans
At Crans, in the municipality of Lens, a golf course opened on pastures in 1906 gave rise to the resort, whose other part belongs to Crans-Montana.
VS · Town · Merger 2017Crans-Montana
Chermignon, Montana, Randogne and Mollens have formed a single municipality since 1 January 2017, named after the resort of Crans-Montana.
VSDiogne
In the mid-17th century, after the plague, only four people were left in Diogne, a hamlet of the municipality of Crans-Montana where Barbe de Platea once lived.
VSGranges
The counts of Granges, recorded from the 10th century, founded the castle and fortified village of this former municipality, merged into Sierre in 1972.
VSGrimentz
The first village in the Val d'Anniviers to become a commune, in 1243, Grimentz keeps the Bishop's barrel, with wine from 1886, in its burgher house.
VSGrône
After the severe fire of 1912 the hamlet of Merdesson was rebuilt under the name Erdesson. Higher up stood the castle of Morestel, destroyed in 1417.
VSIcogne
A quarter of the community of Lens from the 15th century, Icogne resisted the mergers imposed in 1802 and 1851 and became an autonomous municipality in 1905.
VSLens
Until 1905 Lens formed a single « louable communauté » with Icogne, Chermignon and Montana. Above the village the statue of Christ the King has stood since 1935.
VSLoye
A community in its own right by 1292, the hamlet of Loye, in the municipality of Grône, still runs its water-powered sawmill of 1861.
VSMiège
In 1434 people from Salquenen, Varone and Leuk reportedly destroyed the bisse de la Tièche. Miège lies west of the Raspille, which marks the language border.
VSMission
Ravaged by fire in 1838, Mission reportedly kept only one house, which bears an inscription in patois meaning « I saw the fire ».
VSMollens
At Aminona, in the former municipality of Mollens, only three of the 23 planned residential towers were built, in 1972-1973.
VSMontana
A quarter of the Contrée de Lens that became a municipality in 1905, Montana saw the resort of Montana-Vermala grow up around the Hôtel du Parc and Théodore Stephani's sanatorium.
VSMontana-Vermala
Montana-Vermala, in the municipality of Crans-Montana, grew around a hotel opened in 1892 and Théodore Stephani's sanatorium before turning to skiing.
VSMottec
A hamlet of the former municipality of Ayer, now in the municipality of Anniviers, Mottec has housed since 1959 a hydroelectric power station listed as a cultural property of regional importance.
VSMuraz
For centuries the families of Saint-Luc came down from the Val d'Anniviers to Muraz, above Sierre, to work the vines.
VSMuzot
At the château of Muzot, built in the 13th century, Rainer Maria Rilke completed the « Duino Elegies » and wrote the « Sonnets to Orpheus ».
VS · Merger 2021Noble-Contrée
Miège, Venthône and Veyras approved their merger in 2018 and have formed the municipality of Noble-Contrée since 1 January 2021.
VSRandogne
Randogne rose from 540 m on the right bank of the Rhône to 2'995 m at the Mont Bonvin, and took in most of the resort of Montana-Vermala.
VSSaint-Jean
In the mid-20th century the people of Saint-Jean, in the Val d'Anniviers, still went down to the plain to work their vineyards between Noës and Sierre.
VSSaint-Léonard
Beneath the village, the largest underground lake in Europe, discovered in 1943. Above it, Neolithic sites that gave their name to the « Saint-Léonard facies ».
VSSaint-Luc
Called « Luc » until 1904, the village keeps in its forest the Pierre des Sauvages, a 14 m block with over 300 cup marks, known as the largest recorded cup-marked stone in Switzerland.
VS · TownSierre
After its three castles were destroyed in the mid-14th century, the people of Sierre moved to Plan-Sierre, the core of today's town.
VSVenthône
The tower of the lords of Venthône, built in the late 12th or early 13th century, became the municipal house of a village where vineyards cover 43 % of the land.
VSVercorin
A thriving village lived in all year round by the mid-13th century, Vercorin, in the municipality of Chalais, was only linked to Chalais by a carriage road in 1938.
VSVeyras
Rainer Maria Rilke lived at the Château de Muzot from 1921 until his death. Every two years the grand châtelain of the dizain of Sierre was elected on the Prélaz of Veyras.
VSVissoie
The religious centre of the Val d'Anniviers: the parish of the whole valley, and an oval-plan borough built in 1235 by the bishop of Sion.
VSZinal
In 1855 a mere mayen without a single inn in the whole valley, Zinal, a hamlet of the former municipality of Ayer now in the municipality of Anniviers, saw its first inn open as early as 1856.
Sites 4
Géronde
Augustinian canons, Carthusians, Carmelites, Jesuits, Trappists and deaf pupils followed one another on the hill of Géronde before the Bernardine nuns of Collombey arrived.
VS · SiteLac souterrain de Saint-Léonard
At 300 m long, the underground lake of Saint-Léonard, the largest in Europe, was formed by the erosion of a bed of gypsum beneath the vineyard.
VS · SiteSite néolithique de Sur-le-Grand-Pré
On a rocky ridge at Saint-Léonard, a Middle Neolithic settlement left 700 features and gave its name to the « Saint-Léonard facies ».
VS · SiteTignousa
Above Saint-Luc, in the former municipality of that name now in the municipality of Anniviers, Tignousa has been served by a chairlift since 1964 and has had an observatory at 2'200 m since 1995.