Lully
Origin of the name Lully
The village appears in 1011 in the phrase « in villa Lulliaco ». The name has not been explained. The roses in the coat of arms recall the influence of Fribourg, the « cité à la rose ».[1][2]
Founding of Lully
Lully, south of Estavayer-le-Lac, has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. Its church, returned to the monastery of Romainmôtier in 1011, is a parish church by 1228. From at least the 12th century the lands belong to a branch of the lords of Estavayer, which in the 17th and 18th centuries takes the name Estavayer-Lully. Once a farming village, Lully has become a residential municipality. Since the merger of 2006 the municipality has three villages, Lully, Bollion and Seiry.[1][2][5]
History of Lully
Bronze Age. A settlement is established, with kilns and pottery.[1]
Roman period. A cemetery is laid out on the village's territory.[1]
516. The donation of Sigismund, king of Burgundy, to the abbey of Agaune, dated 30 April 516, lists the farms of Lully among its properties.[2]
6th-7th centuries. A mausoleum is built on the site of the future church. Burgundian or Romano-Burgundian graves have been found nearby.[2][3]
10th century. A wooden church replaces a Carolingian sanctuary.[1]
1011. Rudolph III of Burgundy returns the church of Lully to the monastery of Romainmôtier, which had owned it before.[1]
11th-14th centuries. The church is rebuilt in stone in the 11th century, then enlarged. Its Gothic west front and choir date from the 13th and 14th centuries. It is a parish church by 1228.[1][2][3]
1532. The parish comes under the clergy of Estavayer.[1]
1536-1798. Acquired by Fribourg in the 16th century, Lully is attached to the bailiwick of Estavayer. It then belongs to the district of Estavayer until 1848.[1]
1746-1807. A plan of 1746 names Élisabeth d'Estavayer as owner of the manor. In 1807 the de Courten family acquires it.[2]
1855-1860. A presbytery is built in 1855-1857. In 1860 Lully becomes a parish again, together with Bollion and Châtillon.[1][3]
1870. The old bell tower is pulled down and replaced, and receives three bells.[2]
1914. On 29 June Blanche de Rosière-de Courten sells the estate to the Société immobilière du Château de Lully, whose shareholders are almost all French.[2]
1921. On 14 September a Carmelite convent is founded in the manor.[2][3]
1937-1956 (ou 1936-1956). The nuns run the Institut du Bon Pasteur, a girls' boarding school, in the manor. The manor is then converted into flats.[1][2][3]
1984. The restoration of the church uncovers more than one hundred and fifty burials and 187 coins, including Fribourg mailles from 1476 to 1529.[1][2]
2001. A service area on the A1 motorway opens on the municipal territory.[1]
2006. On 1 January Lully merges with Bollion and Seiry, under a decree of 21 June 2005.[1][4]
Population of Lully
Sources and references: [1][6]
| 1811 | 50 |
| 1850 | 58 |
| 1900 | 73 |
| 1950 | 158 |
| 1980 | 242 |
| 2000 | 363 |
| 2025 | 1'239 |
Historic sites in Lully
Church of Saint-Léger. The Romanesque nave and the south side door were rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the chancel arch widened in the 17th century. The Neo-Gothic windows and the porch tower date from the 19th century. The choir walls are one metre thick.[2][3]
Estavayer-Lully manor. The manor was built in the 17th century by the lordly family. Its south front and enclosure wall probably date from the second half of the 18th century. A Carmelite convent from 1921, it has held flats since 1956.[2][3]
Villa Saint-Michel. Sister Saint-Michel, Mme Delaître, had it built near the manor in 1920 to house French benefactors on holiday. From 1952 to 1956 it took in women suffering from alcoholism under the name « Villa Monika ».[2]
Notre-Dame des Vernes wayside shrine. On the bank of the Ruisseau des Moulins, on the road to Châtillon, this shrine is recorded in 1894. A procession goes there every 15 August.[2]
Châtelet and presbytery. The 16th and 17th-century châtelet was restored in the 1990s. The presbytery dates from 1855-1857.[3]
Remains in Lully
Bronze Age settlement. Remains of a Bronze Age settlement, with kilns and pottery, have been found.[1]
Roman cemetery. A Roman cemetery has been uncovered on Lully's territory.[1]
Traces under the church. Under the present church, work in the 1980s revealed post holes of a very old wooden building. The church stands on a 6th-7th century mausoleum.[1][2][3]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Lully (FR) » (Marianne Rolle, version du 01.12.2009)
- Commune de Lully, « Le village de Lully »
- Service des biens culturels du canton de Fribourg, Recensement cantonal des sites construits d'importance régionale et locale (SCRoL), « Lully », février 2026
- État de Fribourg, Recueil systématique (RSF 141.1.2), « Liste chronologique des fusions, divisions et changements de nom des communes »
- Commune de Lully, page d'accueil
- Service de la statistique du canton de Fribourg (SStat), « Population des communes, de 1900 à 2025 » (T01-02-03), population résidante permanente au 31.12.2025
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Lully
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