Les Cullayes

Origin of the name Les Cullayes

The village's name first appears in 1359 in the Latinized form « Culaes ». According to one etymological hypothesis (to be cross-checked), it would derive from the Latin feminine participle cōlāta and would denote a narrow passage, a small valley or a place where a landslide occurred. In Vaud patois, a local form « les Ecoulayés » was also used for a long time.

Founding of Les Cullayes

There is no trace of a single founding charter nor of an identified founder for Les Cullayes. The earliest known written mention dates from 1359, when the hamlet, then named « Culaes », already belonged to the seigneury of Vulliens. As with most villages of the Vaud Jorat, the settlement probably formed gradually around farms attached to this seigneury, without any planned creation by a single authority.

History of Les Cullayes

1359. First written mention of the place, in the Latinized form « Culaes ».

Middle Ages (before 1370). The hamlet is part of the seigneury of Vulliens.

Around 1370, end of the 14th century. Les Cullayes separates from Vulliens, together with Mézières and Carrouge, and comes under the seigneury of Mézières.

1536. The Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud places Les Cullayes under the administration of the bailiwick of Moudon.

18th century. The de Cerjat family exercises seigneurial rights over the village (to be cross-checked).

1798. With the fall of the Ancien Régime, Les Cullayes joins the canton of Léman during the Helvetic period, then is attached to the district of Oron.

1803. The Act of Mediation confirms the belonging of Les Cullayes to the canton of Vaud.

1923. The municipality adopts a coat of arms combining a rose, recalling the former lords of Vulliens, and a stag, recalling the de Cerjat family.

1999. Closure of the village's last dairy, amid a gradual decline of traditional agricultural activity (only two active farms then remain).

15 January 2006. A first merger project involving Mézières, Servion and Les Cullayes is rejected in a popular vote, although the citizens of Servion and of Les Cullayes had themselves approved it.

31 August 2006. The district of Oron, to which Les Cullayes had belonged, is dissolved as part of the reorganization of the Vaud districts (to be cross-checked regarding the precise district it subsequently joined).

2006 to 2011. Servion and Les Cullayes intensify their intermunicipal cooperation, paving the way for a new merger project limited to the two municipalities.

2008 to 2010. The merger project between Servion and Les Cullayes alone is relaunched and completed.

1 January 2012. Les Cullayes merges with Servion to form the new municipality of Servion, which becomes its chief town.

Population of Les Cullayes

Population of Les Cullayes

1850	264
1900	219
1960	138
2010	691
2011	674 (to be cross-checked: the municipality itself indicates rather 677 inhabitants at the end of 2011)

Historic sites in Les Cullayes

Piero Mazzi Museum. Municipal museum, accessible on request from the municipal administration of Servion. The detailed content of its collections could not be independently verified (to be cross-checked).

Sources

• Wikipédia (français) - Les Cullayes
• Wikipedia (English) - Les Cullayes
• Wikipedia (Deutsch) - Les Cullayes
• Wikipédia (français) - Servion
• Commune de Servion - Histoire de Les Cullayes
• Commune de Servion - Histoire de la fusion entre Servion et Les Cullayes
• Commune de Servion - Présentation de la commune
• Toponymes.ch (étymologie des noms de lieux vaudois)

Other villages near Les Cullayes

• Montpreveyres (VD)
• Mollie-Margot (VD)
• Mézières (VD)
• Servion (VD)
• Ferlens (VD)