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Villages / Valais / Sierre district / Bluche

Bluche

Canton of Valais · District: Sierre · No published figure for the locality. The municipality of Crans-Montana has 10'781 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Randogne
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Bluche

Bluche refers to a plateau dotted with clearings, just below the resort. The meaning of the name has not been established.[2]

Founding of Bluche

Bluche grew up in the middle of a plateau with many clearings, well suited to cattle raising, just below the resort of Crans-Montana. The village belonged to the former municipality of Randogne, merged into Crans-Montana in 2017. Its recent history is tied to the Les Roches school, opened by Marcel and Jean-Pierre Clivaz, two brothers who grew up in Bluche, on land near the family home.[1][2]

History of Bluche

1954. The Les Roches school opens in Bluche with 60 children aged 12 to 18. The girls are housed at Prés-Fleuris, the boys at Les Roches.[1]

mid-1960s. The school has 220 pupils from 60 countries.[1]

1979. The Ecole des Roches becomes a hotel and tourism school, run alongside the boarding school.[1]

1983. The school devotes itself solely to hotel management and tourism.[1]

1985. In April, a fire destroys the main building. Classes continue in three hotels in Montana.[1]

1987. The school reopens after rebuilding begun in May 1986.[1]

early 2000s. The village experiences very strong growth.[2]

2017. On 1 January, Randogne merges with Chermignon, Mollens and Montana to form the municipality of Crans-Montana.[3]

Historic sites in Bluche

Les Roches school. School opened in 1954 by the Clivaz brothers, first a boarding school, then a hotel school from 1979. Its main building, destroyed by fire in 1985, was rebuilt in 1986-1987.[1]

Funicular station. The funicular from Sierre to Montana stops at Bluche. A new station replaced the old one, where the cars of the former second section passed each other. Four old cars are displayed beside it.[4]

Sources

  1. Les Roches, association des anciens élèves, « The history of Les Roches »
  2. Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès, « Bluche »
  3. Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès, « Historique »
  4. Funimag, « Sierre Montana Crans (1911-2011) » (détails techniques du funiculaire)
  5. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  6. geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Bluche)

Other villages near Bluche

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