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Villages / Fribourg / Broye district / Forel (FR)

Forel (FR)

Canton of Fribourg · District: Broye · 339 inhabitants (2000, former municipality of Forel, last figure before the merger)
Part of the municipality of Estavayer
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Forel (FR)

Forel is recorded in 1239 as « Forest », and the origin of the name has not been explained.[1]

Founding of Forel (FR)

Forel stands on a cliff above Lake Neuchâtel, whose shore held a Neolithic and a Bronze Age lakeside settlement. In the Middle Ages the place belonged to the mandement of Estavayer. The municipality also included the hamlet of Les Planches, which belonged to the parish of Ressudens and, after the Reformation, to that of Rueyres-les-Prés, while two thirds of the inhabitants attended church in Estavayer. A village of cereals and fodder, Forel was part of Vernay from 2006 to 2016. It is now in the municipality of Estavayer (merger of 2017).[1]

History of Forel (FR)

1239. The village appears as « Forest ».[1]

1536. Forel is attached to the bailiwick of Estavayer.[1]

1594. Louis Griset buys Forel and raises it to a lordship.[1]

1687. A chapel is built in honour of Saints Gorgon and Garin.[1]

1798-1848. The lordship belongs to the district of Estavayer.[1]

From 1848. Forel and Autavaux clash with the parish of Estavayer, which denies them certain rights.[1]

1907. Forel is attached to the parish of Rueyres-les-Prés.[1]

1909. A rectorate of Forel-Autavaux is created.[1]

1923. The chapel is enlarged.[1]

1942. Forel and Autavaux form a parish together.[1]

1971-1989. A land consolidation reorganises the fields.[1]

2006. On 1 January Forel, with Les Planches, merges with Autavaux and Montbrelloz under a decree of the Grand Council of 16 March 2005. The municipality takes the name Vernay, after a village between Les Planches and Grandcour that disappeared in the 15th century.[1][3][4]

2017. Vernay becomes part of the new municipality of Estavayer, approved by its voters on 14 June 2015 by 305 votes to 194.[1][5]

Population of Forel (FR)

Sources and references: [1]

Population of Forel (FR)
1811133
1850155
1900183
1950220
1980195
2000339

Historic sites in Forel (FR)

Chapel of Saints Gorgon and Garin. Built at Forel in 1687, it was enlarged in 1923.[1]

Remains in Forel (FR)

Lakeside settlements of En Chéseau. Two settlements have been located on the shore at Forel, one Neolithic and one from the Bronze Age. The Neolithic settlements at En Chéseau are listed as a cultural property of regional importance (B object).[1][2]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Forel (FR) » (Marianne Rolle, version de 2003, remanié le 06.04.2017)
  2. Office fédéral de la protection de la population, « Révision Inventaire PBC 2021 : liste cantonale, canton de Fribourg » (état au 1.1.2026)
  3. Commune d'Estavayer, « Vernay »
  4. État de Fribourg, Recueil systématique (RSF 141.1.2), « Liste chronologique des fusions, divisions et changements de nom des communes »
  5. Conseil d'État du canton de Fribourg, message 2015-DIAF-73 du 25 août 2015 sur la fusion des communes de Bussy, Estavayer-le-Lac, Morens, Murist, Rueyres-les-Prés, Vernay et Vuissens

Other villages near Forel (FR)

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