Echandens

Echandens
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Vaud (VD)
District :	Morges
BFS no. :	5633
Postal code :	1026
UN / LOCODE :	CH ECH
Coordinates :	531.23 thousand  /  153955 coordinates: 46 ° 32 '0 "  N , 6 ° 32' 32"  O ; CH1903:  531.23 thousand  /  153955
Height :	432  m above sea level M.
Height range :	379-465 m above sea level M.
Area :	3.88  km²
Residents:	2791 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	719 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.echandens.ch
Location of the municipality

Echandens is a municipality in the Morges district in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland .

geography

Echandens is 432  m above sea level. M. , 4 km northeast of the district capital Morges (air line). The village extends on a promontory on the southeast slope of the plateau of Echandens, west of the Venoge , in the Vaud Central Plateau , in a panoramic position around 50 m above lake level of Lake Geneva .

The municipal area of ​​3.9 km² covers a section in the Vaud Central Plateau. The main part of the area is occupied by the plateau of Echandens, on which at Sur Sian with 462  m above sea level. M. the highest point of the municipality is reached. This plateau falls to the south to the Denges valley and to the east to the Venoge valley. With its winding course, this forms the eastern border. In the north, the municipality includes the two forest areas Bois de la Côte and Bois Gondou on the right of the Venoge. In 1997, 28% of the municipal area was in settlements, 17% in forests and woodlands, 54% in agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Echandens includes larger commercial and industrial zones in the Venogetal and the hamlet of Les Abbesses ( 445  m above sea level ) on the edge of the Echandens plateau. Neighboring communities of Echandens are in the north Bussigny , east Ecublens , south Denges , southwest Lonay and in the northwest Bremblens .

population

With 2791 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) Echandens is one of the medium-sized municipalities in the canton of Vaud. Of the residents, 86.5% are French-speaking, 5.8% German-speaking and 1.9% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Echandens was 354 in 1850 and 411 in 1900. Since 1950 (477 inhabitants) there has been a rapid population increase with a quadrupling of the population within 50 years.

economy

Until the second half of the 20th century, Echandens was a predominantly agricultural village. Today arable farming has little significance in the income structure of the population. There are several small wine-growing areas on the southern slopes of the Echandens plateau .

In the early 19th century, two cantonal powder mills were built on the Venoge, and a grain mill was also operated from 1822. The Kohler chocolate factory was in operation around 1900, today only the name of the quarter, La Chocolatière, bears witness to the former chocolate production. Since 1919, the Nestlé printing company was located in Echandens. Since the 1960s, new commercial and industrial zones have been created that offer numerous jobs. Local companies include metal processing , construction and telecommunications companies . In the last few decades the village has developed into a residential community thanks to its attractive location. Many workers are therefore commuters who work mainly in Lausanne and Morges.

traffic

The community has good transport connections. It is located above the main road from Morges to Crissier . The A1 (Geneva-Lausanne) opened in 1964 runs through the southern municipal area . The next connections are in Morges and Crissier. On July 1, 1855, the Renens - Morges section of the Lausanne-Geneva railway line was inaugurated, but the Denges-Echandens stop was not inaugurated until 1890. In 1971 the 75 hectare Lausanne marshalling yard went into operation immediately south of the stop .

history

The municipality of Echandens was inhabited very early on, as evidenced by traces of settlement from the Bronze Age , a burial ground from the La Tène period, and finds from the Roman and early Middle Ages . The place was first mentioned in a document in 853 under the name Escannens . In the 11th century, the name Eschagnens appeared , followed by the spellings Schandens (1164), Scanneins (1165), Eschandens (1184) and Eschanens (1228). The place name probably goes back to the Burgundian personal name Scamna and means for the people of Scamna .

Since the Middle Ages , one part of the Echandens rule has belonged to the Lausanne Cathedral Chapter, the other to the Bishop of Lausanne, who gave it to the nobles of Echandens as a fief. With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536, the village came under the administration of the Bailiwick of Morges . After the collapse of the Ancien Régime , Echandens belonged to the canton of Léman from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic, which then became part of the canton of Vaud when the mediation constitution came into force . In 1798 it was assigned to the Morges district.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Echandens

Echandens Castle

The current construction of the parish church of Echandens, first mentioned in 1228, dates from 1729. The castle was built in the 16th and 17th centuries on the foundation walls of a medieval castle. It shows a mixture of late Gothic and Renaissance styles and is equipped with numerous turrets, a polygonal stair tower and a Renaissance portal. Today the castle is the seat of the municipal administration. In the old town center there are still some farm and wine-growing houses from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Web links

Commons : Échandens  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Echandens (French)
• François Béboux: Echandens. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 28, 2004 .
• André Locher: Echandens vu du ciel. In: swisscastles.ch. (Aerial photography). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 .