Montricher

Canton of Vaud · District: Morges · 953 inhabitants as of 31 December 2025

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Montricher

Montricher owes its very first written trace to the year 1049, under the Latin form Mons Richarius, at the time when a castle was founded on the hill that still overlooks the village today. Several spellings then follow one another over the centuries: Monte Richerii in 1177, then Montricher from 1301, a form that eventually became permanently established, and finally Monrichie in 1412. An old German exonym, Rogersberg, also circulated in the past, without it being known precisely during which period it was actually in use, or until when. The meaning of the name can be guessed fairly naturally from its oldest form: Mons Richarius literally means « the mount of Richier » (or Richarius), a first name of Germanic origin borne at the time, the same one that gave its name to the French village of Saint-Riquier. The toponym therefore originally referred to the fortified hill of a certain Richier, before extending to the town that developed at its foot. The inhabitants of Montricher are called the Montélets, a variant Montellais also being encountered.

Founding of Montricher

Montricher was born, like several market towns at the foot of the Vaud Jura, around a castle. In 1049, Rodolphe, apparently one of the sons of Adalbert II of Grandson, had a fortress built on the height overlooking the present-day site of the village, with the idea of controlling the routes of passage through the massif. It is this castle foundation that gave the place its name, and very probably also that of the family that settled there afterwards: the lords of Montricher, whose line died out in 1439. An episode linked to this period, mentioned by only one source consulted and which would therefore deserve to be cross-checked further, has it that the construction of the castle caused a dispute with the monks of the abbey of Romainmôtier, who are said to have complained directly to Pope Leo IX of financial harm linked to this building erected on land belonging to them. The town that developed at the foot of the fortress had a rather particular status for the region: from the 12th century, the keep became a fief dependent on the lords of La Sarraz, while the settlement itself remained directly attached to imperial power. This situation changed in 1293, when the town came under the authority of the House of Savoy, which granted it franchises in the following years, between about 1293 and 1300; the castle, for its part, only joined the Savoyard sphere in 1406, when the lordship of La Sarraz itself was sold to Savoy. A parish has existed in Montricher since 1228, and ramparts surrounding the town are attested from the 14th century.

History of Montricher

around 1350-1200 BC. Occupation of the fortified site of Châtel d'Arruffens, a promontory fort located at 1390 metres in altitude in the territory of Montricher, during the Middle and Late Bronze Age.

4th-5th century AD. A second occupation of the same hilltop site, this time during the Late Roman Empire, between the third quarter of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century, leaves abundant material there.

1049. First written mention of the place, under the form Mons Richarius. Rodolphe, one of the sons of Adalbert II of Grandson, has a castle built on the hill overlooking the future village.

12th century. The castle's keep becomes a fief dependent on the lords of La Sarraz, while the town developing below remains directly attached to imperial power.

1177. The place is mentioned under the form Monte Richerii.

1228. A parish is established in Montricher.

around 1293-1300. The town comes under the authority of the House of Savoy, which grants it franchises. The castle, for its part, remains within the sphere of La Sarraz.

1301. The form Montricher, which will become permanent, is attested for the first time.

14th century. Ramparts surrounding the town are attested; the fortified settlement then covers around 180 by 130 metres.

1406. The lordship of La Sarraz, and with it the castle of Montricher, is sold to the House of Savoy, which thus brings the town and the fortress together under a single authority.

1412. The name of the place appears under the form Monrichie.

1439. Extinction of the family of the lords of Montricher. The lordship then changes hands several times through successions and sales.

1536. The Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud places Montricher under the administration of the bailiwick of Morges, a tutelage that will last until 1798.

1584. The lordship of Montricher passes to the Willermin family.

8 October 1615. A fire, caused by a lit candle forgotten in a cellar of the castle, destroys a significant part of it.

1768. The lordship falls to the Steiger family, then to the von Pöllnitz family.

October 1770. A violent fire ravages a large part of the town and damages the castle, causing at least one death. The village is rebuilt thanks to the solidarity of its inhabitants, who contribute goods and labour; most of the present-day farmhouses and bourgeois houses, in a style typical of the foot of the Jura, date from this rebuilding.

1779. Baron von Pöllnitz sells the barony of Montricher to the Mayor family, lords of Lully.

24 January 1798. With Vaud independence, the seigneurial regime comes to an end: the last baron of Montricher, a Mayor de Lully, becomes an ordinary citizen again like everyone else.

1798-1803. Montricher is part of the canton of Léman, before the canton of Vaud, within boundaries close to the current ones, joins the Confederation.

1803. The municipality elects its first syndic (mayor) and sets up a democratic municipal administration, with a general assembly and then a municipal council.

around 1828. The castle, badly damaged by the previous fires, is demolished. On this specific point, the sources consulted do not fully agree: some speak of a demolition, others of a new fire occurring at this date; it was not possible to decide with certainty between the two versions. Only a tower of the surrounding wall survives, later incorporated into the church's bell tower.

1895-1896. The metre-gauge railway line Bière-Apples-Morges (BAM) comes into service and notably gives Montricher a station, opening up the village.

2004. Vera Michalski-Hoffmann creates the Fondation Jan Michalski for writing and literature, in memory of her husband Jan Michalski, who died in 2002.

31 August 2006. The district of Cossonay, on which Montricher had depended since 1798, is dissolved. The municipality joins the new district of Morges.

2013. The Maison de l'écriture of the Fondation Jan Michalski is inaugurated in Montricher, after four years of construction work, with its multilingual library, its auditorium and its exhibition hall.

2017. The foundation's writers' residence, made up of twelve independent cabins, opens its doors.

2018. First edition of the Bibliotopia literary festival, organised every year by the foundation.

2025. Montricher has 953 inhabitants and remains an independent municipality of the district of Morges; nothing indicates that it merged with a neighbouring municipality or absorbed one, nor that its administrative status changed recently, apart from the 2006 change of district.

Population of Montricher

364

1798

395

1803

695

1850

727

1900

619

1950

499

1970

696

2000

824

2010

949

2018

961

2023

953

2025

Historic sites in Montricher

Reformed church of Montricher. The present church occupies the site of the old castle chapel, from which it has retained certain defensive features, such as loopholes visible in the wall that was once part of the fortified enclosure. Built mainly in the 14th and 15th centuries, it is distinguished by a round bell tower topped with a so-called imperial-style bulb dome, dated to the 17th century: it is the only round bell tower in the entire canton of Vaud, and its shingle roof is also considered unique in Switzerland in its shape. It has stained-glass windows made in 1953 by François Ribas.

Castle site and remains. The castle founded in 1049 by Rodolphe de Grandson overlooked the town for nearly eight centuries, before being destroyed around 1828 after having already suffered greatly from the fires of 1615 and 1770. Only one tower remains, incorporated into the bell tower of the present church; the site of the medieval fortified town, which covered around 180 by 130 metres, corresponds today to the historic heart of the village.

Mont Tendre. The highest point of the entire Swiss Jura at 1679 metres in altitude, Mont Tendre rises within the municipality's territory. Accessible on foot, it offers a panorama over the Plateau, the Alps and the Mont-Blanc massif, and houses an alpine chalet open to hikers.

The Fondation Jan Michalski and the Maison de l'écriture. Located on the edge of the village, the Fondation Jan Michalski for writing and literature was created in 2004 by Vera Michalski-Hoffmann, in memory of her husband Jan Michalski, who died in 2002. Its Maison de l'écriture, inaugurated in 2013 after four years of construction and designed by architects Vincent Mangeat and Pierre Wahlen, is recognisable by its hundred or so white concrete columns. It houses a multilingual library of 80 000 volumes, an auditorium with around a hundred seats, an exhibition hall and a literary café. A writers' residence made up of twelve independent cabins opened in 2017, and the foundation has organised the Bibliotopia literary festival since 2018. This is a recent institution, with no direct link to the village's ancient history, but it is today one of the main landmarks of Montricher, including for visitors coming from afar.

The 19th-century rebuilt town. After the fire of October 1770, which destroyed a large part of the settlement, the village was rebuilt through the solidarity of its inhabitants. Most of the farmhouses and bourgeois houses that can be seen today in the village centre date from this rebuilding, in a style characteristic of the rural architecture at the foot of the Vaud Jura.

Montricher railway station. The village has been served since the late 19th century by the metre-gauge railway line Bière-Apples-Morges (BAM), which came into service in 1895-1896 and remains today an active regional transport link.

Remains in Montricher

The Châtel d'Arruffens promontory fort. In the municipality's territory, at 1390 metres in altitude in the Vaud Jura, lies a rocky spur protected on its accessible side by imposing earthworks, remains of a surrounding wall that ran for nearly 200 metres in length. The site has yielded traces of two clearly distinct occupations in time. The first, dated from the mid-14th to the 13th century BC (Middle and Late Bronze Age), yielded several thousand pottery fragments as well as a few metal objects such as pins, bracelets and arrowheads. The second occupation, much later, dates back to the Late Roman Empire, between the third quarter of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century AD: it yielded 243 coins, around 400 pottery fragments and numerous metal objects, which testify to a relatively high standard of living for the time. The site was excavated between 1966 and 1973 by regional amateur archaeologist Jean-Pierre Gadina, and became a nature reserve in 1968.

The castle tower incorporated into the church. The only standing remnant of the medieval castle demolished around 1828, a tower of the surrounding wall was preserved and incorporated into the Reformed church, of which it today forms the characteristic round bell tower. The loopholes still visible in some nearby walls recall the defensive function of this complex before its transformation into a religious building.

Sources

Other villages near Montricher

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