Vevey
| Vevey | ||||||||||
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| Population | 18,001 (Dec 2009)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 7,532 /km2 (19,507 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 2.39 km2 (0.92 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Elevation | 383 m (1,257 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 1800 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 5890 | |||||||||
| Mayor | Laurent Ballif | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Corseaux, Corsier-sur-Vevey, La Tour-de-Peilz, Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz | |||||||||
| Website | www.vevey.ch Profile, SFSO statistics |
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  Vevey
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| View map of Vevey | ||||||||||
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, not far from Lausanne.
It is the seat of the district of the same name. It is part of the French-speaking area of Switzerland.
Vevey is bordered on the west by the River Veveyse and to the east by the River Oyonnaz.
Vevey is the site of the world headquarters of the food giant Nestlé, founded here in 1867. Milk chocolate was invented in Vevey by Daniel Peter in 1857.
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History
A piloti settlement existed here as early as the 2nd millennium BC.
Under Rome, it was known as Viviscus or Vibiscum. It was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Ptolemy, who gave it the name Ouikos. In the Middle Ages it was a station on the Via Francigena. It was then ruled by the bishopric of Lausanne, and later under the Blonay family.
Vevey lived a period of prosperity after the Vaud Revolution of 1798. In the 19th century industries of mechanic constructions (ateliers mécanique de Vevey), food (Nestlé) and tobacco (Rinsoz & Ormond) were founded in the town.
Main sights
The Grande Place is dominated by a granary known as La Grenette, built in 1803 in the Neo-Classical "rustic" style. Behind La Grenette is the restaurant La Clef, in which Jean-Jacques Rousseau used to eat. The table at which he sat is still to be seen in the restaurant.
St Martin's Church, a few minutes' walk away from the Grande Place, contains the bodies of a number of those who condemned King Charles I of England to death - especially that of Edmund Ludlow who escaped to Vevey after the death of Oliver Cromwell.
The Alimentarium Museum, a modern museum opened in 1985 by the Nestlé foundation, features a permanent exhibition of cooking, eating, purchasing food, digesting, and a history of Nestlé.
Notable residents past and present
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss writer and philosopher. Arguably the father of the European Romantic movement
- Charlie Chaplin, British director and actor. Escapee from American McCarthyism (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
- Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter
- Nikolai Gogol, Russian novelist
- Bruno Hoffmann, German glass harp player
- Victor Hugo, French poet and writer
- Percy Scholes, English musician and writer
- Graham Greene, British writer (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist
- Jules Massenet, French composer (while composing Esclarmonde)
- Paul Juon, Germanised Russian composer
- Edouard Jeanneret Le Corbusier, Swiss architect
- James Mason, actor, (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
- Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer (Quo Vadis?) Statue in the garden of the Grand Hôtel du Lac.
- Henri Nestlé, German citizen, founder of Nestlé
- Edmund Ludlow, general and politician in Oliver Cromwell's government and enemy of King Charles I
- Thabo Sefolosha, basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder
- Peter Cowie, film historian
- Claude Nicollier, first Swiss astronaut
- Henry Philip Tappan, first President of the University of Michigan
- Olga Baclanova, Russian-born actress.
- Clara Haskil, Swiss Romanian classical pianist
- Daniel Peter, inventor of milk chocolate and chocolate bar
Festivals
The Confrérie des Vignerons (Brotherhood of Winegrowers) organises the Winegrowers' Festival (Fête des Vignerons) four or five times each century (one per generation) to celebrate its wine-growing traditions and culture. On those occasions an arena for 16,000 spectators is built in the marketplace — the Grande Place, which is the second-biggest marketplace in Europe, after Lisbon, Portugal. The festivals date from the 18th century; the last five were in 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977 and 1999.
Market
The town is also known for its large market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. The Vevey folk markets,known locally as the Marchés Folkloriques, normally has up to 2000 visitors each Saturday over a period of two months. (Second week of July to end August). Visitors can buy a wine-glass and drink to their heart's content while listening to brass bands, Swiss folk music, and watching traditional craftsmen at work. These Folk Markets are organised by the Société de développement de Vevey. (www.sdvevey.ch)
Literary references
Vevey is one of two locations that comprise the setting of Henry James' novella Daisy Miller. It is also mentioned in Little Women, the classic American novel by Louisa May Alcott, as the location of the young Theodore "Laurie" Laurence's early studies at boarding school.
Infrastructure
Vevey's railway station, the first station to be "automated" in 1956, is served by several routes of the Léman RER commuter rail system. It has frequent trains to Blonay, Lausanne, Geneva, Montreux and Villeneuve among others.
The number 1 bus is run every 10 minutes during day and goes from the Funicular to Villeneuve. The number 13 bus goes up to Châtel-Saint-Denis and Bossonnens. These also late night Petit Prince buses. Vevey is also well connected on the lake with boats going to all the major harbours like Le Bouveret, Saint Gingolph, Evian, Lausanne and more.
Twin towns
Carpentras, France
Müllheim, Germany
See Also
Vevay, Indiana, United States
References
- ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, MS Excel document – Bilanz der ständigen Wohnbevölkerung nach Kantonen, Bezirken und Gemeinden (German) accessed 25 August 2010
External links
- Official website (French)
Media related to Vevey at Wikimedia Commons
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