Les Haudères
Origin of the name Les Haudères
The name may combine Old French « alt », high, with the adverb « derier », behind. Representatives of Les Haudères appear in the records from 1225.[1][2]
Founding of Les Haudères
Les Haudères is a village in the municipality of Evolène, created in 1882 when the municipality of Hérens was divided. It grew on an alluvial fan at the foot of the rocks, at the confluence of the Borgne d'Arolla and the Borgne de Ferpècle, on a valley floor where the river remained a constant threat. The original core lay at the foot of the cliff, where the oldest arch stands. A knoll to the south reportedly carried a defensive work or a second core. As the parish church was in Evolène, the village shared the history of the main village.[1][3]
History of Les Haudères
around 1000 BC. A bronze wire bracelet with two blue glass beads, found on its own, shows that the site was occupied in the Late Bronze Age.[1]
1225. Representatives of Les Haudères appear in the records, together with those of Evolène and La Sage.[2]
1451. The Rarogne de Montville family dies out. Its rights pass to the chapter of Sion, which keeps them until the French invasion of 1798.[1]
1507. This date is carved on a tufa arch in the middle of the historic village, at the foot of the cliff.[1]
1573. A door in the village bears this date and the name of Martin Choulet, notary and deputy castellan in 1577, with a hammer, a trefoil and a fleur-de-lis.[2]
1621. The village provides 39 of the 306 soldiers from Evolène called up in Sion.[2]
1632. Date of a small masonry building that may be the old, disused chapel.[1]
1781 and 1808. Two painted houses bearing these dates mark a new phase of growth. The main road is then moved westwards and widened.[1]
1829. With 333 inhabitants, Les Haudères is the largest settlement of the Val d'Hérens, ahead of Evolène (314).[2]
1878. The Siegfried map shows a settlement still strung out along the old through road.[1]
around 1885. The Hotel Edelweiss is built, entirely of masonry. Around 1900 the even larger Hotel des Haudères goes up at the foot of the southern knoll.[1]
1925. A new church dedicated to Saint Catherine is built at the entrance to the village on the side facing the plain. It replaces an old, disused chapel.[1]
1950s. With post-war family tourism, the Edelweiss and the Hotel des Haudères double in size on the road side. Around 1960 the large Hotel des Mélèzes is added.[1]
1970. The village has 427 inhabitants. All 32 members of the Rong family in the municipality live here.[2]
Population of Les Haudères
Sources and references: [2]
| 1829 | 333 inhabitants |
| 1850 | 302 inhabitants |
| 1970 | 427 inhabitants |
Historic sites in Les Haudères
Tower houses of the old village. The original houses, of squared logs on a masonry base with a masonry rear part for the kitchen, rarely had more than two storeys. In the 18th and 19th centuries many were raised by two, sometimes three storeys, forming « towers ».[1]
Church of Sainte-Catherine. It stands at the entrance to the village on the side facing the plain, in place of an old chapel.[1]
Belle Époque hotels. The Edelweiss, the Hotel des Haudères and the Restaurant des Alpes near the Borgne form a fringe of hotels around the old village. Guesthouses, including the Hotel Veisivi, moved into existing houses.[1]
Sources
- Office fédéral de la culture, ISOS, « Les Haudères » (2e version, 05.1998), copie publiée par Val d'Hérens Tourisme
- Olivier Clottu, « Les familles d'Evolène », communication présentée à l'assemblée de la Société d'histoire du Valais romand à Evolène le 4.10.1970 (RERO DOC)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Evolène » (Bernard Monnet, version du 27.03.2006)
- 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 Les Haudères
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change