Vouvry
Origin of the name Vouvry
The name appears in 1018 in the forms « Vobreium » and « Wovregium ». What the name means is not yet known.[1]
Founding of Vouvry
Who founded Vouvry is not known, but the area was occupied very early, as a 35'000-year-old Mousterian rock shelter at Taney and a Burgundian cemetery show. The village enters history as a royal estate: Rudolph III of Burgundy gave it to the abbey of Saint-Maurice, which installed a vidomne and then a castellan there. Sovereignty then passed to the emperor and on to the counts of Savoy, and the abbot enfeoffed the lordship to noble families of the area, including the La Tour and the Blonay. First attached to the bailiwick of Chillon, Vouvry came under the sovereignty of the Upper Valais, exercised by the governor of Monthey. From the 15th century the community had two syndics, one for the Plan and one for the Mont. The municipality today brings together Vouvry and the Porte du Scex, in the Rhône plain, with Miex and Taney, in the mountains on the Grammont.[1]
History of Vouvry
1018. First mention, as « Vobreium » and « Wovregium ». Rudolph III of Burgundy gives the royal estate to the abbey of Saint-Maurice.[1]
1032. Sovereignty passes to the emperor, then to the counts of Savoy.[1]
1204. Before this date, Vouvry is separated from the mother parish of Corb, near Noville.[1]
1272. A deed divides the rights between the count of Savoy and the abbot of Saint-Maurice.[1]
1325. A ferry is recorded; it is replaced by a wooden bridge in 1838, then by an iron bridge in 1903.[1]
1488. Jean Dunoyer builds the bell tower of the church of Saint-Hippolyte.[1]
1536. Vouvry comes under the sovereignty of the Upper Valais, exercised by the governor of Monthey.[1]
1569. Confirmation of the franchises, renewed in 1578.[1]
1597. Construction of the castle of the Porte du Scex, rebuilt in 1672-1678.[1]
1639. Opening of a paper mill, the first in Valais, later a cardboard factory, closed in 1999.[1]
1659. Construction of the Stockalper canal, extended to Le Bouveret in 1879.[1]
1798. Vouvry forms a municipality with Miex and Taney.[1]
1822. Rebuilding of the church of Saint-Hippolyte.[1]
1859. Arrival of the railway.[1]
1898. Discovery of a Burgundian cemetery of 23 graves.[1]
1901. Commissioning of a power station fed by a 900 m penstock from Lac de Taney.[1]
1963. Commissioning of the Chavalon thermal power station, decommissioned in 1999.[1]
1965. The site of Taney is protected at federal level.[1]
1976. The castle of the Porte du Scex becomes the Musée du Vieux-Vouvry, then the Musée historique du Chablais in 2008.[1]
Population of Vouvry
Sources and references: [1][2]
| 1850 | 953 |
| 1900 | 1'295 |
| 1950 | 1'348 |
| 2000 | 2'960 |
| 2025 | 4'929 |
Historic sites in Vouvry
Church of Saint-Hippolyte. Bell tower of 1488 by Jean Dunoyer. The church, rebuilt in 1822 and restored in 1972-1980, houses listed organs.[1]
Castle of the Porte du Scex. Built in 1597 and rebuilt in 1672-1678, it served as a toll station and residence of the castellan of Le Bouveret, then as a gendarmerie post. Since 2008 it has housed the Musée historique du Chablais.[1]
Taney. Mountain village and lake, whose site has been protected at federal level since 1965. Since 1901 the lake has fed a power station through a 900 m penstock.[1]
Stockalper canal. Canal built in 1659 and extended to Le Bouveret in 1879.[1]
Remains in Vouvry
Mousterian rock shelter of Taney. Shelter occupied in the Middle Palaeolithic, about 35'000 years old.[1]
Burgundian cemetery. Cemetery of 23 graves from the Burgundian period, discovered in 1898.[1]
Legends of Vouvry
The witch of En Praux. Legend places the gallows of the lords of Vouvry on the island of En Praux, where people accused of witchcraft were hanged. The mother of Tanneguy, a freed serf envied for his skill as a hunter, was taken there as a witch. At the moment of the hanging a wounded partridge, a hare pierced by an arrow and then a pack of greyhounds appeared: the executioners fled. Tanneguy freed his mother, threw the gallows into the pond and settled with her near the priory of Vionnaz.[4]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Vouvry » (David Rey, version de 2012, remanié le 05.01.2015)
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
- geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)
- Solandieu, Légendes valaisannes, 1919, « La sorcière d'En Praux »
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Vouvry
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