Saint-Maurice, Valais
Encyclopedia
Saint-Maurice, or Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, is a municipality
and district capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
It is the site of the Roman
outpost of Agaunum
and the mediaeval St. Maurice's Abbey, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland (Collège de Saint-Maurice).
Saint-Maurice is located at the entrance a pass leading to the upper part of the Rhône valley. As such, it has a strategic importance, and defence work were built from the 15th century to control this access. The Fortress Saint-Maurice
was constructed in the surrounding mountainsides from 1880 through 1995.
, the name was changed from Acaunum to Saint-Maurice in 1003.
Some traces of a Bronze Age
settlement were found at the foot of the rocky spur in town. There was a Roman era
town at Saint-Maurice, but very little is known about the actual layout of it. There was a customs post at Acaunum, where an import and export tariff of 2.5% was levied. The town probably had a shrine to water nymphs. According to tradition, Saint Maurice
and his companions of the Theban Legion
were martyred in Acaunum during the reign of Maximian
(286-310). Around 360-370 Theodul, the first Bishop
of Valais, built a basilica
in Acaunum in their honor. The basilica became a popular pilgrimage site. In 515, the King of Burgundy Sigismund
founded the Abbey, which he endowed with rich land.
In 523, the town was invaded by the Franks
, followed in 574 by the Lombards
and in the mid-10th Century, by the Saracens. In 888 Rudolf
of Welf
was crowned King of Burgundy in the Abbey. In 1034, the entire Chablais
region, which included Saint-Maurice, was acquired by the Duchy of Savoy
. The towns of Saint-Maurice and Monthey
formed a Kastlanei or district. Around 1300, the Kastlan or vogt
moved from Monthey to Saint-Maurice. The abbot exercised dominion over the abbey and the town. Citizens of the town were first mentioned in 1170 and by 1275, the citizens elected two mayors. In the 13th Century the town was surrounded by walls. Count Amadeus V of Savoy confirmed the city charter in 1317, at which time the town had a population of between 1,400 and 1,800. In 1475 the Lower Valais was ruled by the Seven Zenden as an associate member (Zugewandter Ort) of the Swiss Confederation. From 1475 until 1798, Saint-Maurice was the capital of the Saint-Maurice province.
In the following year, 1476, Bern began construction of a castle in the narrow Rhone valley at Saint-Maurice. It was completed in 1646 with the expansion of the residential buildings. However, in 1693 a devastating fire in the town, destroyed the warehouse of the castle and much of the gunpowder
that was stored there.
During the Helvetic Republic
Saint-Maurice was a District capital. After the Act of Mediation
ended the Republic, from 1802-04 it was a Zenden capital and in 1810-14 it was the capital of a sub-prefecture of the French
department of the Simplon. In 1822 the towns of Vérossaz and Evionnaz separated from the municipality.
The most important religious institution in town was the abbey, but several other religious communities were established in Saint-Maurice. These communities included; in 1611 the Capuchins
, in 1865 the Sisters of Saint-Maurice, in 1906 the Augustinian
Sisters and in 1996 the Brotherhood of the Eucharist
in Epinassey. The Capuchin monastery's chapel was built in 1640. The church of Saint-Sigismond has been the parish
church since at least the mid-12th Century. It was built on the site of the 6th or 7th Century St. John's burial church. The present church building dates of 1715. The still standing Hospice of Saint-Jacques was built in the 10th Century. Until the Reformation
in 1529, Morcles belonged to the parish of Saint-Maurice and the church of Notre Dame-sous-le-Bourg was the parish church
for Lavey
. In 1693 Notre Dame-sous-le-Bourg was destroyed in a fire and by 1721 only the ruins of the walls still remained. The chapel of Saint-Laurent was first mentioned in 1178 and was abandoned in the 19th Century. The church of Notre-Dame-du-Scex was built in the 18th-Century, on the remains on an 8th Century building. The Martyrs Chapel in Vérolliez was rebuilt to its present appearance in the 18th Century. The chapel in Epinassey was established in 1923. The Abbey College, was first mentioned in the Middle Ages
. In 1806, support of the school was taken over by the canton and it became the Collège de Saint-Maurice.
The narrow canyon at Saint-Maurice facilitated both trade and defense. The bridge over the Rhone was built around the 12th Century and was the first bridge upstream of Lake Geneva
. The fortifications in the canyon was gradually expanded in 1831, 1848, 1859 and finally in 1892. During the Second World War, the fortifications at Saint-Maurice were one of the three main pillars of the National Redoubt
. In 1995, the fortifications were abandoned and opened as a tourist attraction. Following the army reforms of Armee 95 and XXI, the former mountain infantry military base of Saint-Maurice-Lavey has served as a training camp for the military police.
A large rail yard was built in the municipality following the construction of a railway in 1860. Between 1898 and 1940, the power plant Bois Noir, supplied the city of Lausanne with electricity. However, the municipality was not industrialized until much later. The first major industrial plant was a cement factory that was in operation from the 1950s until 1986. In 1934 the Saint-Augustin printing house opened in town. The newspaper "valaisan Nouvelliste" (New Valais) was founded in 1903 in Saint-Maurice. It was renamed the "Feuille d'Avis Nouvelliste et du Valais" in 1968. The "Echos de Saint-Maurice" was first published in 1899, and in 2000 became the "Nouvelles de l'Abbaye". The "La Patrie Valaisanne" was published between 1927 and 1969. It then became the CVP
party newspaper under the title "Valais Demain" until it closed in 1997.
The abbey building, its treasure, and the Feengrotte which opened in 1863, attract pilgrims and tourists. The Saint-Amé clinic was founded in 1901 and was rebuilt in 1996 into the Lower Valais geriatrics center. The city is home to a branch of the Mediathek Wallis (the library of Wallis), which was formerly the Lower Valais branch of the Cantonal Library. The Educators' School of Wallis (Pädagogic Hochschule Wallis) is located in the municipality. The new zoning plan of 1996 provides for the development of Saint-Maurice at the exit of the A9 motorway
.
In 2008, the eleven-member town council had six members of the CVP
, four FDP.The Liberals
and one representative of the Alliance de gauche. The thirty-member General Council had 15 members from the CVP, 11 frpm the FDP.The Liberals and four from the Alliance de gauche. The citizen's council
is managed by a six-member committee, which oversee extensive property, including the campsite Bois Noir, pastures and forests.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 11.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 13.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.4% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.3%. Out of the forested land, 38.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.1% is used for growing crops and 10.5% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 1.1% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is the capital of the Saint-Maurice district. It is located at the foot of a rock wall and at a narrow point in the Rhone
valley, on the left side of the Rhone river. The city sits on the routes over the Valais alpine
passes into Italy
. It consists of the town of Saint-Maurice and the hamlets
of Epinassey and Les Cases. Until 1822, it included the villages of Evionnaz and Vérossaz.
The municipalities of Mex (VS)
and Saint-Maurice are considering a merger on at a date in the future into the new municipality with an, , undetermined name.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Per pale Azure and Gules, overall a Cross Bottony Argent.
Most of the population speaks French
(3,097 or 86.1%) as their first language, Italian
is the second most common (123 or 3.4%) and Albanian
is the third (112 or 3.1%). There are 87 people who speak German
.
, the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 1,421 Swiss men (34.5% of the population) and 584 (14.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,582 Swiss women (38.5%) and 527 (12.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 1,146 or about 31.9% were born in Saint-Maurice and lived there in 2000. There were 921 or 25.6% who were born in the same canton, while 690 or 19.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 722 or 20.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.8%.
, there were 1,559 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,592 married individuals, 231 widows or widowers and 214 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 1,376 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 438 households that consist of only one person and 117 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,319 apartments (85.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 153 apartments (10.0%) were seasonally occupied and 64 apartments (4.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.95%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
with the Cantonal Military Museum, Maison de la Pierre and the Bridge over the Rhône
(shared with Bex
, Vaud
) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The entire Saint-Maurice castle and city area are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 40.24% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(19.88%), the SP
(17.36%) and the SVP
(13.6%). In the federal election, a total of 1,429 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 60.3%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,391. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 10, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 238 of which 68 or (28.6%) were in manufacturing and 166 (69.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,143. In the tertiary sector; 143 or 12.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 150 or 13.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 94 or 8.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 17 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 6 or 0.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 27 or 2.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 252 or 22.0% were in education and 251 or 22.0% were in health care.
, there were 1,031 workers who commuted into the municipality and 824 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 10.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 26 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.72% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 32 individuals (or about 0.89% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
, and 250 (or about 6.95% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 125 (or about 3.48% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 163 individuals (or about 4.53% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 300 who completed tertiary schooling, 59.3% were Swiss men, 31.7% were Swiss women, 5.3% were non-Swiss men and 3.7% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 1,273 students in Saint-Maurice who came from another municipality, while 115 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Saint-Maurice is home to the Médiathèque Valais - Saint-Maurice library. The library has 70,829 books or other media, and loaned out 81,732 items in the same year. It was open a total of 249 days with average of 34.5 hours per week during that year.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
and district capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
It is the site of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
outpost of Agaunum
Agaunum
Roman Agaunum, the modern Saint-Maurice in the canton Valais in southwesternmost Switzerland, was a minor post confined between the Rhône and the mountains along the well-travelled road that led from Roman Genava, modern Geneva, over the Alps by the Great St...
and the mediaeval St. Maurice's Abbey, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland (Collège de Saint-Maurice).
Saint-Maurice is located at the entrance a pass leading to the upper part of the Rhône valley. As such, it has a strategic importance, and defence work were built from the 15th century to control this access. The Fortress Saint-Maurice
Fortress Saint-Maurice
Fortress Saint-Maurice is one of the three fortification complexes comprising the Swiss National Redoubt. The westernmost of the three, Fortress Saint-Maurice complements Fortress Saint Gotthard and Fortress Sargans to secure the central alpine region of Switzerland against an invading force...
was constructed in the surrounding mountainsides from 1880 through 1995.
History
Saint-Maurice is first mentioned in 200 as Acaun[ensis] [quadragesimae] Gal[liarum]. In respect to Saint MauriceSaint Maurice
Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
, the name was changed from Acaunum to Saint-Maurice in 1003.
Some traces of a Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
settlement were found at the foot of the rocky spur in town. There was a Roman era
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
town at Saint-Maurice, but very little is known about the actual layout of it. There was a customs post at Acaunum, where an import and export tariff of 2.5% was levied. The town probably had a shrine to water nymphs. According to tradition, Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
and his companions of the Theban Legion
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
were martyred in Acaunum during the reign of Maximian
Maximian
Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
(286-310). Around 360-370 Theodul, the first Bishop
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
of Valais, built a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
in Acaunum in their honor. The basilica became a popular pilgrimage site. In 515, the King of Burgundy Sigismund
Sigismund of Burgundy
Sigismund was king of the Burgundians from 516 to his death. He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. He...
founded the Abbey, which he endowed with rich land.
In 523, the town was invaded by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, followed in 574 by the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
and in the mid-10th Century, by the Saracens. In 888 Rudolf
Rudolph I of Burgundy
Rudolph I was King of Burgundy from his election in 888 until his death.Rudolph belonged to the elder Welf family and was the son of Conrad, Count of Auxerre, from whom he inherited the lay abbacy of St Maurice en Valais, making him the most powerful magnate in Upper Burgundy - present-day...
of Welf
Elder House of Welf
The Elder House of Welf was a dynasty of European rulers in the 9th through 11th centuries to 1055. It consisted of two groups, a Burgundian group and a Swabian group. It is disputed whether the two groups formed one dynasty or whether they shared the same name by coincidence only.-Burgundian...
was crowned King of Burgundy in the Abbey. In 1034, the entire Chablais
Chablais
Chablais was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains.This region is currently divided into three territories, the Chablais savoyard, the Chablais valaisan, and the Chablais vaudois, and is now split across two countries: France and Switzerland...
region, which included Saint-Maurice, was acquired by the Duchy of Savoy
Duchy of Savoy
From 1416 to 1847, the House of Savoy ruled the eponymous Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France. It was a continuation of the County of Savoy...
. The towns of Saint-Maurice and Monthey
Monthey
Monthey is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.- History :The castle in the town center was built in 950 on a hill, the first houses of Monthey surrounded it. Monthey is first mentioned in 1215 as Montez At the 13th century, the counts of Savoy owned the...
formed a Kastlanei or district. Around 1300, the Kastlan or vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
moved from Monthey to Saint-Maurice. The abbot exercised dominion over the abbey and the town. Citizens of the town were first mentioned in 1170 and by 1275, the citizens elected two mayors. In the 13th Century the town was surrounded by walls. Count Amadeus V of Savoy confirmed the city charter in 1317, at which time the town had a population of between 1,400 and 1,800. In 1475 the Lower Valais was ruled by the Seven Zenden as an associate member (Zugewandter Ort) of the Swiss Confederation. From 1475 until 1798, Saint-Maurice was the capital of the Saint-Maurice province.
In the following year, 1476, Bern began construction of a castle in the narrow Rhone valley at Saint-Maurice. It was completed in 1646 with the expansion of the residential buildings. However, in 1693 a devastating fire in the town, destroyed the warehouse of the castle and much of the gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
that was stored there.
During the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
Saint-Maurice was a District capital. After the Act of Mediation
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...
ended the Republic, from 1802-04 it was a Zenden capital and in 1810-14 it was the capital of a sub-prefecture of the French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
department of the Simplon. In 1822 the towns of Vérossaz and Evionnaz separated from the municipality.
The most important religious institution in town was the abbey, but several other religious communities were established in Saint-Maurice. These communities included; in 1611 the Capuchins
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
, in 1865 the Sisters of Saint-Maurice, in 1906 the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Sisters and in 1996 the Brotherhood of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
in Epinassey. The Capuchin monastery's chapel was built in 1640. The church of Saint-Sigismond has been the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church since at least the mid-12th Century. It was built on the site of the 6th or 7th Century St. John's burial church. The present church building dates of 1715. The still standing Hospice of Saint-Jacques was built in the 10th Century. Until the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1529, Morcles belonged to the parish of Saint-Maurice and the church of Notre Dame-sous-le-Bourg was the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
for Lavey
Lavey, Switzerland
Lavey is a former municipality in the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.It was first recorded in year 1016 as A Laver. In 1189 it was known as Laveto.The municipality contained the villages Lavey-Village and Lavey-les-Bains...
. In 1693 Notre Dame-sous-le-Bourg was destroyed in a fire and by 1721 only the ruins of the walls still remained. The chapel of Saint-Laurent was first mentioned in 1178 and was abandoned in the 19th Century. The church of Notre-Dame-du-Scex was built in the 18th-Century, on the remains on an 8th Century building. The Martyrs Chapel in Vérolliez was rebuilt to its present appearance in the 18th Century. The chapel in Epinassey was established in 1923. The Abbey College, was first mentioned in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. In 1806, support of the school was taken over by the canton and it became the Collège de Saint-Maurice.
The narrow canyon at Saint-Maurice facilitated both trade and defense. The bridge over the Rhone was built around the 12th Century and was the first bridge upstream of Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
. The fortifications in the canyon was gradually expanded in 1831, 1848, 1859 and finally in 1892. During the Second World War, the fortifications at Saint-Maurice were one of the three main pillars of the National Redoubt
National Redoubt (Switzerland)
The Swiss National Redoubt was a defensive plan developed by the Swiss government beginning in the 1880s to respond to foreign invasion. In the opening years of World War II the plan was expanded and refined to deal with a potential German invasion. The German plan, Operation Tannenbaum, was real,...
. In 1995, the fortifications were abandoned and opened as a tourist attraction. Following the army reforms of Armee 95 and XXI, the former mountain infantry military base of Saint-Maurice-Lavey has served as a training camp for the military police.
A large rail yard was built in the municipality following the construction of a railway in 1860. Between 1898 and 1940, the power plant Bois Noir, supplied the city of Lausanne with electricity. However, the municipality was not industrialized until much later. The first major industrial plant was a cement factory that was in operation from the 1950s until 1986. In 1934 the Saint-Augustin printing house opened in town. The newspaper "valaisan Nouvelliste" (New Valais) was founded in 1903 in Saint-Maurice. It was renamed the "Feuille d'Avis Nouvelliste et du Valais" in 1968. The "Echos de Saint-Maurice" was first published in 1899, and in 2000 became the "Nouvelles de l'Abbaye". The "La Patrie Valaisanne" was published between 1927 and 1969. It then became the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
party newspaper under the title "Valais Demain" until it closed in 1997.
The abbey building, its treasure, and the Feengrotte which opened in 1863, attract pilgrims and tourists. The Saint-Amé clinic was founded in 1901 and was rebuilt in 1996 into the Lower Valais geriatrics center. The city is home to a branch of the Mediathek Wallis (the library of Wallis), which was formerly the Lower Valais branch of the Cantonal Library. The Educators' School of Wallis (Pädagogic Hochschule Wallis) is located in the municipality. The new zoning plan of 1996 provides for the development of Saint-Maurice at the exit of the A9 motorway
A9 motorway (Switzerland)
The A9 motorway, an Autobahn in western Switzerland, is a divided highway connecting from Ballaigues to southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the National Road N9....
.
In 2008, the eleven-member town council had six members of the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
, four FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
and one representative of the Alliance de gauche. The thirty-member General Council had 15 members from the CVP, 11 frpm the FDP.The Liberals and four from the Alliance de gauche. The citizen's council
Bürgergemeinde
The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland...
is managed by a six-member committee, which oversee extensive property, including the campsite Bois Noir, pastures and forests.
Geography
Saint-Maurice has an area, , of 7 square kilometre. Of this area, 1.51 square kilometre or 21.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.95 square kilometre or 42.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.28 square kilometre or 32.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.2 square kilometre or 2.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.1 km² (24.7 acre) or 1.4% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 11.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 13.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.4% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.3%. Out of the forested land, 38.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.1% is used for growing crops and 10.5% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 1.1% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is the capital of the Saint-Maurice district. It is located at the foot of a rock wall and at a narrow point in the Rhone
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
valley, on the left side of the Rhone river. The city sits on the routes over the Valais alpine
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
passes into Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It consists of the town of Saint-Maurice and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Epinassey and Les Cases. Until 1822, it included the villages of Evionnaz and Vérossaz.
The municipalities of Mex (VS)
Mex, Valais
Mex is a municipality in the district of Saint-Maurice, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland.-Geography:Mex has an area, , of . Of this area, or 12.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 48.9% is forested...
and Saint-Maurice are considering a merger on at a date in the future into the new municipality with an, , undetermined name.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Per pale Azure and Gules, overall a Cross Bottony Argent.
Demographics
Saint-Maurice has a population of . , 26.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 14.5%. It has changed at a rate of 13.5% due to migration and at a rate of 1.6% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(3,097 or 86.1%) as their first language, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
is the second most common (123 or 3.4%) and Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
is the third (112 or 3.1%). There are 87 people who speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
, the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 1,421 Swiss men (34.5% of the population) and 584 (14.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,582 Swiss women (38.5%) and 527 (12.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 1,146 or about 31.9% were born in Saint-Maurice and lived there in 2000. There were 921 or 25.6% who were born in the same canton, while 690 or 19.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 722 or 20.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.8%.
, there were 1,559 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,592 married individuals, 231 widows or widowers and 214 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 1,376 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 438 households that consist of only one person and 117 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,319 apartments (85.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 153 apartments (10.0%) were seasonally occupied and 64 apartments (4.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.95%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
St-Maurice D’Agaune Abbey, Saint-Maurice CastleSaint-Maurice Castle
Saint-Maurice Castle is a castle in the municipality of Saint-Maurice of the Canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-History:...
with the Cantonal Military Museum, Maison de la Pierre and the Bridge over the Rhône
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
(shared with Bex
Bex
Bex is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle. It is a few miles south of its sister town municipality of Aigle.-The Bex Salt Mine:Bex is the site of a famous salt mine....
, Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. The entire Saint-Maurice castle and city area are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
which received 40.24% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(19.88%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.36%) and the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(13.6%). In the federal election, a total of 1,429 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 60.3%.
Economy
, Saint-Maurice had an unemployment rate of 6.5%. , there were 16 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 257 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 39 businesses in this sector. 1,522 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 151 businesses in this sector. There were 1,609 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.5% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 1,391. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 10, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 238 of which 68 or (28.6%) were in manufacturing and 166 (69.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,143. In the tertiary sector; 143 or 12.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 150 or 13.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 94 or 8.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 17 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 6 or 0.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 27 or 2.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 252 or 22.0% were in education and 251 or 22.0% were in health care.
, there were 1,031 workers who commuted into the municipality and 824 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 10.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 2,720 or 75.6% were Roman Catholic, while 285 or 7.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 26 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 0.72% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 32 individuals (or about 0.89% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 250 (or about 6.95% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 125 (or about 3.48% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 163 individuals (or about 4.53% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Saint-Maurice about 1,126 or (31.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 300 or (8.3%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 300 who completed tertiary schooling, 59.3% were Swiss men, 31.7% were Swiss women, 5.3% were non-Swiss men and 3.7% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 1,273 students in Saint-Maurice who came from another municipality, while 115 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Saint-Maurice is home to the Médiathèque Valais - Saint-Maurice library. The library has 70,829 books or other media, and loaned out 81,732 items in the same year. It was open a total of 249 days with average of 34.5 hours per week during that year.