Les Plans-sur-Bex
Origin of the name Les Plans-sur-Bex
Name origin: not explained by the sources consulted. The hamlet was long called « Les Plans de Frenières », after the neighbouring hamlet of Frenières, as shown by photographs from the late 19th century and old postcards.
Founding of Les Plans-sur-Bex
Les Plans is not a municipality: it is one of the eight hamlets of the municipality of Bex, lying at 1'095 metres in an east-west valley at the foot of the Grand Muveran. Until the early 18th century the Plans valley was only pastureland. Barns were built there between 1681 and 1695, then, in 1714, the first building habitable all year round; the first permanent inhabitants settled in the first half of the 18th century. The sources consulted do not name these first inhabitants. The place later became renowned for botany and mountaineering.
History of Les Plans-sur-Bex
1681-1695. Barns are built in the valley, until then used as pasture.
1714. Construction of the first building habitable all year round; the first permanent inhabitants settle in the first half of the 18th century.
1758-1764. Albrecht von Haller, director of the saltworks, visits Les Plans and finds a great variety of plants there, assisted by Pierre Thomas and his son Abraham.
1775. The botanist Thomas Blaikie collects plants in the Plans valley, guided by Abraham Thomas.
1795. Les Plans appear in the first travel guides, including the guide by Johann Gottfried Ebel published that year.
1871. The writer Eugène Rambert, who has known Les Plans since 1846, publishes « Bex et ses environs. Guide et souvenir ».
19th century. In the last quarter of the century, photographs by Constant Marmillod and Léon Demole show the Lenoir family at « Plans de Frenières ».
1891. Creation at Pont de Nant, above Les Plans, of the La Thomasia alpine garden, named in honour of the Thomas family.
1969. A ski lift opens at the head of the valley; it runs until the early 1980s.
2016. The hamlet has 130 inhabitants.
Population of Les Plans-sur-Bex
| 2016 | 130 |
Historic sites in Les Plans-sur-Bex
La Thomasia alpine garden (Pont de Nant). Created in 1891 at 1'260 metres, it honours the Thomas family, herbalists from Bex. First intended to entertain the spa guests of Bex-les-Bains, it soon took on a scientific mission and displays about 3'000 plants from the world's mountains. It now belongs to the Canton of Vaud. Depending on the source, its creation is attributed to the Société de développement de Bex or to Professor Ernest Wilczek (to be cross-checked).
Vallon de Nant. Nature reserve managed by Pro Natura, visited from Pont-de-Nant.
Bex-Frenières-Les Plans road. 12.5 km long, in winter it is the only access to the hamlet, which is served by a bus line from Bex.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Bex (commune) »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Thomas »
- Wikipédia, « Les Plans-sur-Bex »
- Le Point Chablais, « Découverte des hameaux de Bex: partie 1 » (2016)
- Patrinum (BCU Lausanne), « Les Plans de Frenières (Bex) », photographies de C. Marmillod et L. Demole
- Musée et jardins botaniques cantonaux, « Le bélier écolo : La Thomasia » (2020)
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Other villages near Les Plans-sur-Bex
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