Ballaigues
Origin of the name Ballaigues
First mentioned in 1228 as «Balevui», then as «Bella Aqua» in 1453. The etymology is not explained in the sources consulted; the Latinised form of 1453 suggests «beautiful water» (to be cross-checked).
Founding of Ballaigues
The territory of Ballaigues, on the southern slopes of the Suchet and on the Franco-Swiss border, has been crossed since Antiquity by the road linking the Swiss Plateau with Franche-Comté over the Jougne pass. The site was occupied from Roman times, and a road with ruts cut into the rock survives west of the village. No source consulted names a founder of the medieval village. It appears in 1228 as a parish centre, with a church dedicated to St John the Baptist, and then belongs to the land of Les Clées. In 1302 it was detached from it to form, together with Lignerolle, a separate lordship, which later passed through the hands of several noble families. Ballaigues long lived from transit traffic and tolls on the road to Franche-Comté, before being supplanted by Vallorbe in the 19th century; it then went through a tourist period, followed by industrial growth in the 20th century. The municipality comprises the village and several hamlets.
History of Ballaigues
Roman period. Occupation of the site; the road over the Jougne pass links Aventicum (Avenches) with Abiolica (Pontarlier) via Eburodunum (Yverdon). A road with ruts cut into the rock survives west of the village.
1228. First mention, as «Balevui»; Ballaigues is already a parish, with a church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and belongs to the land of Les Clées.
1302. Ballaigues is detached from the lordship of Les Clées: under Louis of Savoy it forms a separate lordship with Lignerolle, whose lord becomes Nicolas, mayor of Lignerolle.
1416. The village has 10 hearths.
1453. The name appears as «Bella Aqua»; 8 hearths are recorded.
1526. The Valais family of Asperlin acquires the lordship through marriage; it keeps it until its extinction in 1759. Over the centuries the Champvent, Champion and Sinner families also hold it.
1536. Bernese conquest of Vaud: Ballaigues is attached to the bailiwick of Yverdon (until 1798).
1604. The lordship of Ballaigues is separated from that of Lignerolle.
1649. Border stone no. 47 is set up; it is still visible on the Franco-Swiss border.
1711. The present church is rebuilt on the site of the old church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, to plans by the Bernese architect Jean-Gaspard Martin.
1740-1744. The scholar Élie Bertrand (1713-1797) is pastor of Ballaigues.
1798. Ballaigues becomes part of the district of Orbe (until 2006).
19th century. Transit traffic to Franche-Comté and its tolls, long a source of income, shift to Vallorbe.
1870. Start of the tourist period: Ballaigues becomes a health resort; some twenty hotels welcome more than 1'000 guests a season until the First World War, which ends this prosperity.
1889. Start of the manufacture of dental instruments (Maillefer), one of the industries that ensure the village's prosperity in the 20th century, along with the Alpa camera factory.
1900. Albert Naef, Vaud's first cantonal archaeologist, has two sections of the rutted road cleared.
1923-1942. The painter and violinist Louis Soutter lives in Ballaigues, arriving at the age of 52 and dying there on 20 February 1942.
1926. The municipality adopts the arms of the d'Asperlin family: Or, a lion azure, langued and crowned gules.
1932. Ballaigues now forms a parish with Vallorbe.
1951. At the end of October, sightings of an unidentified animal, described as a large spotted cat, lead to a hunt and the closure of the schools; the affair of the «monster of Ballaigues» draws onlookers and hunters.
2006. Dissolution of the district of Orbe: Ballaigues joins the district of Jura-Nord vaudois.
Population of Ballaigues
| 1416 | 10 hearths (households) |
| 1453 | 8 hearths (households) |
| 1570 | 20 hearths (households) |
| 1684 | 45 hearths (households) |
| 1764 | 253 (80 hearths) |
| 1850 | 530 |
| 1900 | 717 |
| 1950 | 929 |
| 2000 | 871 |
| 2025 | 1'217 |
Historic sites in Ballaigues
Ballaigues church. Rebuilt in 1711 on the site of the old parish church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, attested from 1228, to plans by the Bernese architect Jean-Gaspard Martin; re-roofed with tiles in 1729, restored in 1951 by the architect Oscar Magnin. It stands in a central, slightly elevated position.
Border stone no. 47. Stone of 1649 marking the border between Switzerland and France, above the village.
Fountain on the main street and town hall. Heritage features of the village centre.
Grave of Louis Soutter. A memorial plaque in the cemetery commemorates the painter and violinist Louis Soutter, who lived in Ballaigues from 1923 until his death in 1942.
Remains in Ballaigues
Rutted road in the Chez Barrat forest. Above the village, a stretch of about 200 metres of road with ruts cut into the rock, with a gauge of about 1.20 metres, presented as the longest rutted Roman road in Switzerland (Roman dating to be cross-checked). It belongs to the route that linked Aventicum with Abiolica (Pontarlier) via Yverdon and the Jougne pass, and more broadly Gaul with Italy. Known since the 19th century, the route was still used until the mid-19th century to carry salt from Salins-les-Bains and Arc-et-Senans to French-speaking Switzerland and Bern. Albert Naef had two sections cleared in 1900, and in 1971 the cantonal archaeologist Edgar Pélichet was asked to make it accessible to the public.
Legends of Ballaigues
The «Donkey-Eaters». The inhabitants, the Ballaguis, are nicknamed the Donkeys («lè z'Âno» in Vaud patois) or the Donkey-Eaters («lè Medze-Ano»). According to tradition, they mistook a donkey for a wild boar, shot it and then ate it.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Ballaigues »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Lignerolle »
- Feuille des avis officiels du canton de Vaud, « Alphabet des communes vaudoises : Ballaigues »
- Commune de Ballaigues, « Route romaine »
- La Région, « Une voie romaine quasi intacte ! »
- EERV, paroisse de Ballaigues-Lignerolle, « L'église du village : quelle histoire ! »
- Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne, 29 octobre 1951, « La bête mystérieuse de Ballaigues »
- Wikipédia, « Ballaigues »
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Other villages near Ballaigues
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change