La Rogivue

Origin of the name La Rogivue

The name La Rogivue appears for the first time in 1256 in the Latin form «Rubea aqua», literally «red water». This name would come from the streams rising in the peaty ground of the place, whose water took on a reddish hue. The memory of this origin has been preserved in the local coat of arms, which depicted two wavy bands of gules (red) on a white background, symbolising these two watercourses.

Founding of La Rogivue

In the 12th century, the hamlet was dependent on local lords who themselves bore the name Rogivue. In 1300, Jacques de Castel and his wife, daughter of Rodolphe de Rogivue, ceded the place to the lords of Oron, who remained its holders until the Bernese conquest. From 1557 to 1798, La Rogivue was integrated into the Bernese bailiwick of Oron, before joining, from 1798, the district of Oron. In religious terms, the place first belonged to the parish of Saint-Martin, on Fribourg territory, then to that of Châtillens after the Protestant Reformation; from 1838, it fell entirely under the parish of Palézieux. In 1771, La Rogivue separated from the neighbouring municipality of La Rougève, which remained Catholic, for confessional reasons linked to the Reformation.

History of La Rogivue

1256. First written mention of the place, in the Latin form «Rubea aqua» (red water).

12th century. The hamlet depends on a local seigneury of the same name, the de Rogivue family.

1300. Jacques de Castel and his wife, daughter of Rodolphe de Rogivue, cede the village to the lords of Oron.

1557 to 1798. The place is integrated into the Bernese bailiwick of Oron, following the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud.

1680. The place has 5 hearths (households).

1771. Separation from the neighbouring municipality of La Rougève, which remained Catholic, for confessional reasons.

1798 to 2006. La Rogivue is part of the district of Oron.

Early 19th century to 1969. Exploitation of the local peat bog, with peaks of intensity between 1914 and 1923 and then between 1943 and 1946.

1838. The place comes entirely under the parish of Palézieux.

1974. Pro Natura acquires the site of the peat bog, then drained and degraded, in order to restore it.

2000. The municipality has 72 inhabitants, the last known figure before the merger.

1 January 2003. La Rogivue merges with the municipality of Maracon, forming the present-day municipality of Maracon, in the district of Lavaux-Oron.

Population of La Rogivue

Population of La Rogivue

1680	5 hearths (households)
1803	49
1850	81
1900	72
1950	64
1980	43
2000	72

Historic sites in La Rogivue

Les Mosses de la Rogivue nature reserve. This 25-hectare peat bog, today managed by Pro Natura, is the most remarkable site in the area. Restored since its acquisition in 1974 after decades of draining and exploitation, it is home to a mosaic of habitats (raised bog, reedbeds, willow scrub) and shelters amphibians, dragonflies and a flora specific to peat bogs, while preserving the memory of the village's former peat-extraction activity.

The hamlet of La Rogivue. Located at around 838 metres above sea level, on the border of the canton of Fribourg, this small agricultural hamlet has retained, despite the 2003 merger, its own identity within the municipality of Maracon, of which it remains one of the constituent localities.

Remains in La Rogivue

Remains of peat extraction. The site of the former peat bog still bears the traces of its industrial exploitation, carried out from the early 19th century until 1969, with periods of high intensity between 1914 and 1923 and then between 1943 and 1946, corresponding to periods of fuel shortage linked to the two World Wars. The drainage ditches dug for extraction had drained and stripped the land, before it was gradually restored to a natural state following its acquisition by Pro Natura in 1974.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, article « Rogivue, La »
• Commune de Maracon, page Histoire
• Feuille des Avis Officiels du canton de Vaud, Alphabet des communes vaudoises, Maracon
• Wikipedia (EN), La Rogivue
• Pro Natura, Réserve naturelle « Les Mosses de la Rogivue »

Other villages near La Rogivue

• Maracon (VD)
• Bussigny-sur-Oron (VD)
• Écoteaux (VD)
• Chesalles-sur-Oron (VD)
• Oron-le-Châtel (VD)