Treyvaux
Origin of the name Treyvaux
The name appears around 1163-1166 (or 1169) in the Latin form « Tribus Vallibus », then « Tresvaux » in 1235 and 1251, « Treswels » or « Tresvel » in the 13th and 14th centuries, and finally « Treyvaux » in the 15th century. Tradition reads it as the « three valleys ». Other explanations have been put forward, « beyond the valley » (trans vallem) or « crossroads » (trivium), and the meaning remains uncertain. In German the village was called Treffels.[1][2]
Founding of Treyvaux
Treyvaux grew up around a very old church, Saint-Pierre, built on a peninsula above the cliffs of the Sarine, about one kilometre west of the present village. Its foundations go back to the 7th century, and its dedication to Saint Peter points to a first Christian community of the Burgundian period. Together with Essert, the village forms a very old parish. It belonged to the lordship of Arconciel-Illens, whose ministeriales the Treyvaux family were from the 12th to the 15th century. In the 13th century a chapel of Saint Mary was built in the village and became the parish church, while Saint-Pierre remained the mother church until the middle of the 16th century.[1][2][3]
History of Treyvaux
7th century. A first church is founded on the Saint-Pierre peninsula above the Sarine.[1]
1163-1166. The village is recorded as « Tribus Vallibus » (or in 1169).[1][2]
12th-15th century. The Treyvaux family serve the lords of Arconciel as ministeriales.[1]
1173. Bishop Landri de Durnes of Lausanne gives the church of Saint-Pierre to Hauterive abbey.[1][2][3]
1291. The chapel of Saint Mary in the village is already the parish church. It is mentioned in March of that year.[1][2]
1417. On 14 February the bishop visits the parish. The priest Petrus Ansermi serves 70 households, and the church lacks a chalice, a ciborium and a crucifix.[1][2]
1468-1470. The chapel of Saint Mary burns down and is then rebuilt.[1][2]
1475. Bern and Fribourg conquer the lordship. From 1484 Treyvaux belongs to the Fribourg bailiwick of Illens.[1][2]
1512. The church of Saint-Pierre is incorporated into the chapter of Saint Nicholas in Fribourg.[1]
1610. The commune adopts its first statutes.[1]
1618. The Mousquetaires de Treyvaux are founded. This militia lives on as a shooting club.[2]
1635. A new building replaces the chapel of Saint Mary and is consecrated that year.[1]
1698. The altarpieces of the side altars of Saint-Pierre are made.[3]
1798. Treyvaux is attached to the district of La Roche, then from 1803 to 1848 to that of Fribourg.[1]
1832. The political commune is created.[1][2]
1873. The present church, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, is completed.[1]
1890. Breeders found two cooperatives, one for red pied cattle and one for black pied. A joint farmers' cooperative with Arconciel follows in 1899.[1]
1948. A road is built for the Rossens dam site. In 1981 it links Treyvaux to the A12 motorway.[1]
1968. The ATD Fourth World movement sets up its national centre in the commune.[1]
1994. Excavations at the church of Saint-Pierre uncover some 600 skeletons.[1]
Population of Treyvaux
Sources and references: [1][2][5]
| 1417 | 70 hearths |
| 1811 | 666 |
| 1850 | 868 |
| 1900 | 1'063 |
| 1950 | 1'044 |
| 1980 | 937 |
| 2000 | 1'248 |
| 2025 | 1'643 |
Historic sites in Treyvaux
Old church of Saint-Pierre. One of the oldest churches in the canton, standing alone on the cliffs of the Sarine. The building has kept its medieval volume, and the choir is said to have been rebuilt by the Cistercians of Hauterive. Around 1520 a major restoration opened the molasse windows. The side altarpieces date from 1698 (Saint Andrew and Saint Margaret of Antioch on the right, the Pietà and Saint Mary Magdalene on the left), that of the high altar from about 1759, and paintings in the choir were discovered around 1990. A 12th-century crucifix, the « Christ de Treyvaux », is associated with it.[1][3]
Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The village parish church, from 1873. It follows the chapel of Saint Mary, a parish church before 1291, burnt in 1468-1470, rebuilt, and then replaced by the building consecrated in 1635.[1][2]
Remains in Treyvaux
Neolithic and Roman finds. Neolithic pottery sherds and a coin of the emperor Valentinian have been found in the commune.[1]
Les Chaussisses. A Roman road from Le Mouret ran through Les Chaussisses towards Pont-la-Ville. It was resurfaced with lime in the early Middle Ages, hence the place name, derived from calceata according to the linguist Paul Aebischer.[2]
Cemetery of Saint-Pierre. Around the old church the 1994 excavations uncovered some 600 skeletons, and 7th-century foundations beneath the building.[1][3]
Legends of Treyvaux
Saint Peter's donkey. Tradition tells that after the Black Death, in the 14th century, the survivors refused to rebuild the old village and wanted to settle in a hollow where three valleys meet. They carried the statue of Saint Peter there, but it returned by itself to the old church. The choice was then left to a donkey: it stopped and knelt at the place called En Frontin, where the church was built. The nickname « les ânes » (the donkeys), given to the people of Treyvaux, is said to come from this miracle.[4]
The duel under the great walnut tree. An account by Joseph Yerly relates that in 1798, during the French occupation, the innkeeper Joseph Papaux, a former fencing master, fought a duel with a French officer who had insulted the miller Sciboz. He killed him under the « grand noyer » on the chemin du Chêne.[2]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Treyvaux » (Marianne Rolle, version du 15.11.2011)
- Jacques Jenny, « Notice historique de la commune de Treyvaux », Commune de Treyvaux
- Fribourg Région, « Eglise St-Pierre-de-Treyvaux »
- Fribourg Région, contes et légendes, « Saint-Pierre de Treyvaux » (d'après Légendes fribourgeoises, 1944)
- 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
Other villages near Treyvaux
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