Branson
Origin of the name Branson
The name is attested in 1264 as « Brancion », then in 1383 as « Biranczon », and « Brançon » is still written in 1906. Some have seen in it an old « Branciodunum », formed from the personal name *Brancio and *dunum (fortress). Others suggest Vulgar Latin « bruscia » (brushwood, clumps of trees cleared for vines), or perhaps « brachium » (spurs). The name has also been explained by the « fond du bran », the great arm of the Rhône. None of these explanations is established.[1][3][4]
Founding of Branson
Branson is a village of the municipality of Fully, on the right bank of the Rhône, at the foot of a steep slope. Traces of prehistoric settlement have been observed here, but who founded the village is unknown. Vines are said to have been grown here since the Roman period, and viticulture expanded at the end of the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages Branson formed with Fully a salterie (office of the sautier, or forester) under the Savoyard castellany of Saillon, and the sautier lived in Branson. Inhabitants of the Entremont and Bagnes valleys settled the site and obtained liberties there, including that of selling their produce. Until the early 20th century they stayed only part of the year, mainly for work in the vineyards, at carnival and during the grape harvest, living in small stone mazots. The village only became a place of permanent residence in the 20th century.[1][2][5]
History of Branson
Early Iron Age. A settlement exists at the place called Le Carré, at the foot of the slope near Branson: pottery, iron slag and fired clay bearing the imprint of planks were observed there during excavations in 2003.[5]
13th century. The salterie of Fully-Branson comes under the Savoyard castellany of Saillon.[2]
1264. First known mention of the place, in the form « Brancion ».[3]
14th century. A rockfall coming down from the Six-Carro is said to have struck the village hard.[1]
1383. The name appears in the form « Biranczon ».[3]
around 1508. The office of sautier, first held by the de Branson family and then by the Carnavalli of Saint-Gingolph, passes to the Châtelard of Isérables, then to Georges Supersaxo.[1]
16th century. A wooden bridge over the Rhône is mentioned at Branson.[1]
1798. Branson is among the eighteen hamlets of Fully recorded in the census that year.[2]
1863. Start of drainage works in the Rhône plain, which floods used to inundate up to the foot of the lowest houses.[1]
1867. A cholera epidemic strikes the village.[1]
1878. The Fully canal has already been dug. The first edition of the Siegfried map shows a village close to today's, with the road crossing the lower row of houses.[1]
1888. On 31 December a fire destroys about a quarter of the village.[1]
around 1960. Construction of the school. Before the Second World War the village had no school as such.[1]
1991. Restoration of the chapel.[1]
2003. At Le Carré, building works uncover prehistoric occupation layers, one of them dated to the Early Iron Age.[5]
Historic sites in Branson
Chapel. Baroque chapel with a small open bell turret, from the 17th-18th centuries (mid-18th century according to another source). Dedicated to Notre-Dame de la Compassion, it is also known as the Saint-Ours chapel, and the patronal feast of Saint-Ours is held every first Saturday of February. It was restored in 1991.[1][2][7]
Village of mazots. The village is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS). Its first buildings were mazots of small rounded stones roofed with stone slabs, traces of which remain at the top of the village and at La Colombière. Gradually enlarged, they became dwellings. Steep lanes and slate roofs still mark the village.[1][7]
Climbing boulders. The boulders of Branson saw the world's first boulder problems graded 8b and 8b+.[7]
Remains in Branson
Iron Age settlement at Le Carré. In April 2003 a rescue excavation at Le Carré observed two sets of prehistoric layers. The upper layer, attributed to the Early Iron Age, yielded pottery, two pieces of iron slag, a fragment of bronze sheet and fired clay suggesting a log construction. The slag points to the smelting of iron ore. A similar layer was spotted about a hundred metres further north-west.[5]
Graves of En Carroz. Numerous graves without grave goods, perhaps Burgundian, were discovered at En Carroz above Branson.[6]
Traces of old mazots. Remains of the old mazots of rounded stones and stone slabs survive at the top of the village and at La Colombière.[1]
Sources
- Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « Branson, commune de Fully », 2e version, février 1996
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Fully » (Benjamin Roduit, version du 14.06.2007)
- Noms de lieux de Suisse romande, Savoie et environs (glossaire toponymique), lettre B
- Jean-Marie Ançay, « Fully, ses lieux-dits : compléments et corrections topographiques », 8e édition, 2024
- François Wiblé (dir.), « Chronique des découvertes archéologiques dans le canton du Valais en 2003 », Vallesia
- Marc-R. Sauter, « L'archéologie burgonde en Valais : tombes à mobilier trouvées à Guttet-Feschel », Vallesia
- Fully Tourisme, brochure « Bienvenue à Fully »
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
- geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)
Other villages near Branson
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