Bellerive
Origin of the name Bellerive
The name Bellerive first appears in writing in 1228 in the Latin form « Balariva ». Related Latinized forms are then found: « Pulchra ripa » in 1240, then « Bellariva » in 1299. The place name is made up of the French words « belle » and « rive » and literally means a « beautiful bank », referring to the village's position on the southern slope of the Mont Vully, between Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel.
Founding of Bellerive
Bellerive does not result from a single founding act but developed, like most villages of the Vully, around a medieval seigneury. This seigneury reportedly first belonged to the lords of Prangins, of the House of Cossonay, before passing, after that family's extinction at the end of the 13th century, to the House of Savoie and then to the lords of Grandson, who still held it in the 14th century. On the death of Othon de Grandson in 1397, the lands reverted to Savoie. The seigneury of Bellerive remained closely linked to that of Grandcour from the 13th century until 1709, the year it was bought from the de Diesbach family by Emanuel von Graffenried, Bernese avoyer, who moved the territory's northern border towards Guévaux in order to attach it to the Bernese bailiwick of Avenches (the whole region had already come under Bernese rule after the conquest of the Pays de Vaud in 1536). In 1777, the seigneury was acquired by Noé Antoine Abraham Bonjour.
History of Bellerive
Bronze Age. Remains of lakeside dwellings (pile dwellings) are attested at Vallamand-Dessous, evidence of human occupation of the region well before the first written mentions.
1228. First written mention of the place, in the Latin form « Balariva ».
1240. The place is mentioned in the Latinized form « Pulchra ripa ».
1299. New mention in the form « Bellariva ».
14th century. The seigneury of Bellerive is in the hands of the lords of Grandson; it has remained closely linked to that of Grandcour since the 13th century.
1397. On the death of Othon de Grandson, the lands revert to Savoie.
1536. The Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud attaches the region to the bailiwick of Avenches.
1701-1702. The church of Cotterd, dedicated to Saint Séverin, is rebuilt; it receives its present bell tower and a heraldic stained-glass window bearing the name of the pastor Daniel Marmet. According to one source consulted, the existence of this church is said to be already attested by documents as early as 1416, information that would deserve to be cross-checked.
1709. Emanuel von Graffenried, avoyer of Berne, acquires the seigneury of Bellerive from the de Diesbach family and moves the territory's northern border towards Guévaux to integrate it into the bailiwick of Avenches; he then has the château of Vallamand-Dessous built as the seat of the seigneury.
1751. The municipality establishes a lower court of justice, a court of fiefs and a court of appeal, under the authority of a Council of Twelve presided over by the castellan of Cudrefin.
1752. The parsonage of Cotterd is built by Abraham Burnand.
1777. The seigneury of Bellerive is acquired by Noé Antoine Abraham Bonjour.
1798. With the establishment of the Helvetic Republic, Bellerive is temporarily attached to the canton of Fribourg.
1803. The Act of Mediation definitively attaches Bellerive to the canton of Vaud, in the district of Avenches.
1811. According to a single source consulted, Bellerive, Constantine and Montmagny are said to have formed, until this date, only a single municipality, before their administrative separation; this information would deserve to be cross-checked.
1845-1864. The parish of Cotterd is reduced to the status of a subsidiary of that of Montet.
1854. A manor house with a polygonal façade is built at Cotterd, owned by the Stürler family and, from 1785, by the Marcuard family.
1872. The collège (school building) of Cotterd is built.
1881. Cotterd regains a resident pastor in its own right.
1900. An old people's home is built in Bellerive.
1914. According to one source consulted, the château of Vallamand-Dessous becomes the property of Georges Cailler, a chocolate industrialist; this information would deserve to be cross-checked.
1966. An organ is installed in the church of Cotterd.
1979. An additional bell is added to the church of Cotterd.
1996-1997. The church of Cotterd undergoes a complete restoration.
2006. The reorganization of the Vaud districts moves Bellerive from the abolished district of Avenches to the new district of Broye-Vully.
1 July 2011. Bellerive merges with Chabrey, Constantine, Montmagny, Mur, Vallamand and Villars-le-Grand to form the new municipality of Vully-les-Lacs; the village ceases to exist as an independent municipality after more than seven and a half centuries of documented history.
Population of Bellerive
| 1764 | 284 inhabitants |
| 1803 | 303 inhabitants |
| 1850 | 402 inhabitants |
| 1900 | 487 inhabitants |
| 1950 | 453 inhabitants |
| 1970 | 412 inhabitants |
| 2000 | 528 inhabitants |
| 2009 | 621 inhabitants |
| 2010 (end of year, before the merger) | 632 inhabitants |
Historic sites in Bellerive
The Saint-Séverin church in Cotterd. Former parish church serving Bellerive and part of Constantine (Salavaux), today one of the smallest parishes in the canton. Its canons depended in the Middle Ages on Saint-Nicolas de Lausanne. Rebuilt in 1701-1702, it received on that occasion its present bell tower and a heraldic stained-glass window bearing the name of the pastor Daniel Marmet. It was entirely restored in 1996-1997.
Château of Vallamand-Dessous. Baroque-style residence built in the early 18th century, probably by Emanuel von Graffenried, Bernese avoyer, to serve as the seat of the seigneury of Bellerive. The building, constructed in a single campaign without reusing earlier structures, has a terrace in front of its main façade, a staircase housed in a central turret and two symmetrical square turrets. It later passed to the Bonjour, de Mandrot and then Le Roy d'Amigny families.
Château of Salavaux. Building whose origin reportedly goes back to the 13th century, with a round tower from that founding period; it stands on territory that partly belonged to the former municipality of Bellerive.
Former parsonage and school of Cotterd. The parsonage was built in 1752 by Abraham Burnand; the collège (school building) dates from 1872. These two buildings formed, together with the church, the historic religious and administrative centre of the former municipality.
Remains in Bellerive
Bronze Age pile dwellings at Vallamand-Dessous. Two lakeside dwelling sites (pile dwellings) dating from the Bronze Age have been identified at Vallamand-Dessous, on the shore of Lake Morat. They attest to human occupation of the region well predating the first written mentions of the 13th century, but their archaeological documentation remains limited in the sources consulted.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse - Bellerive (VD)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse - Cotterd (VD), version allemande
- Wikipédia FR - Bellerive (Vaud)
- Wikipedia DE - Bellerive VD
- Wikipedia EN - Bellerive, Switzerland
- État de Vaud - Exposé des motifs et projet de décret, fusion Vully-les-Lacs (Grand Conseil, séance du 12 octobre 2010)
- Feuille des avis officiels du canton de Vaud (FAOVD) - Vully-les-Lacs
- notreHistoire.ch - Commune de Bellerive (Vully)
- myvaud.ch - The Cotterd Church
- swisscastles.ch - Château de Vallamand
- Site officiel de la commune de Vully-les-Lacs
Other villages near Bellerive
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