Rolle

Origin of the name Rolle

First written mention: «Rotuli» in 1294; German name «Roll». The etymology is not explained in the sources consulted. The inhabitants, called Rollois, are nicknamed in patois «lè Pllianta-saudzon» (the willow planters), in memory, it is said, of the draining of the municipality's marshes (single-source information, to be cross-checked).

Founding of Rolle

Rolle is a Savoyard foundation. A castle, dated to 1264 by dendrochronology, probably already protected a landing place there. In 1319 Count Amadeus V of Savoy founded the town by a show of force: it was the last stage of the Savoyard establishment on the north shore of Lake Geneva. The plan of the new town comprised a main street parallel to the lake, crossed by perpendicular streets linking the port to the hinterland. The inhabitants received the franchises of Moudon. The medieval town never completed its walls, begun on the lakeshore, a sign of its secondary importance among the lakeside toll posts.

History of Rolle

Late Bronze Age. Lakeshore settlements of the Late Bronze Age, notably at La Harpe and Fleur d'Eau.

1st-3rd century. Gallo-Roman villa at La Combe, excavated in 1984.

1264. Construction of the castle, dated by dendrochronology; it probably protected a landing place.

1294. First written mention, in the form «Rotuli».

1319. Count Amadeus V of Savoy founds the town by a show of force, the last stage of the Savoyard establishment on the north shore of Lake Geneva. The inhabitants receive the franchises of Moudon.

1347. Mention of the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre.

1366. The burghers are exempted from the Aubonne toll.

1425. The town obtains a weekly market.

1484. Rolle is raised to a barony.

1536. Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud; Rolle is incorporated into the bailiwick of Morges.

1558. Hans Steiger acquires the barony, which his descendants keep until the Revolution.

1688. Huguenot refugees found a Bourse française (relief fund).

1754. Birth in Rolle of Frédéric-César de La Harpe, future tutor of Tsar Alexander I and a figure of Vaudois independence. At the end of the 18th century the town is a hotbed of the Revolution.

1789-1790. Construction of the present Reformed church.

1798. Under the Helvetic Republic the castle becomes an administrative seat (until 1974); Rolle is a district capital from 1798 to 2006.

1835-1841. Construction of the artificial island of La Harpe to protect the port.

1843. Construction of the Catholic church of Saint-Joseph, in neo-Gothic style.

1880. The Carnal family founds two private international boarding schools, La Combe (girls) and Le Rosey (boys), merged in 1975 as the Institut Le Rosey.

1898-1938. Operation of a tramway linking Rolle to Gimel.

2022. Death in Rolle of the film director Jean-Luc Godard, who had lived there for 45 years.

Population of Rolle

Population of Rolle

1764	1'061
1803	1'323
1850	1'398
1900	2'025
1950	2'677
2000	4'235
2025	6'604

Historic sites in Rolle

Rolle Castle. Savoyard castle on the lakeshore, dated to 1264 by dendrochronology, at the heart of the new town; administrative seat from 1798 to 1974.

Institut Le Rosey. International boarding school founded in 1880 by the Carnal family; joined in 1975 with the girls' boarding school of La Combe, it had 380 pupils in 2008.

Reformed church. Reformed church (temple) built in 1789-1790.

Catholic church of Saint-Joseph. Neo-Gothic church built in 1843; it is one of the town's many protected buildings (16th-19th century).

La Harpe island. Artificial island built in 1835-1841 to protect the port.

Remains in Rolle

Unfinished town wall. The medieval wall, begun on the lakeshore, was never completed; it bears witness to the late and secondary character of the foundation.

Prehistoric and Roman sites. Late Bronze Age settlements at La Harpe and Fleur d'Eau; Gallo-Roman villa (1st-3rd century) excavated in 1984 at La Combe.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Rolle »
• Wikipédia FR, « Rolle (Vaud) »
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Vaud »
• Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »

Other villages near Rolle

• Mont-sur-Rolle (VD)
• Germagny (VD)
• Haute-Cour (VD)
• Tartegnin (VD)
• Bugnaux (VD)