Lens VS

VS is the abbreviation for the canton of Valais in Switzerland and is used to avoid confusion with other entries of the name Lens .

Lens
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Valais (VS)
District :	Sierre
BFS no. :	6240
Postal code :	1978
Coordinates :	600660  /  125491 coordinates: 46 ° 16 '51 "  N , 7 ° 26' 50"  O ; CH1903:  600660  /  125491
Height :	1128  m above sea level M.
Height range :	574-2542 m above sea level M.
Area :	13.98  km²
Residents:	4198 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	300 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.lens.ch
Chelin, Lens municipality
Location of the municipality

Lens ( German  Leis ) is a political municipality and a civic community in the district of Sierre and a parish of the Deanery of Sierre in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais in Switzerland .

geography

Aerial photo (1955)

The municipality of Lens, located between Sion and Sierre , stretches from the Rhone Valley ( 560  m above sea level ) on the right side of the Rhône up to the summit of the Bella Lui ( 2548  m above sea level ) and includes the villages of Flanthey (with the districts St-Clément, Vaas, Valençon and Chelin), Lens and Crans-sur-Sierre (part of the spa town of Crans-Montana ).

history

The area around the Mont de Lens was owned by the Bishop of Sion from 1226 . From the 14th century, Lens was an autonomous village community, to which the so-called quarters of Icogne , Chermignon and Montana also belonged loosely . In 1851, the Great Council of Valais decided to merge the quarters into one large municipality, which led to attempts to split off the individual places. In 1905 Lens, Icogne, Chermignon and Montana became independent communities. From the second half of the 20th century, tourism gained increasing importance, not least due to the development of the health resort of Crans-Montana.

population

Population development
year	1687	1850	1910	1950	2000	2010	2012	2014	2016
Residents	567	688	1111	1660	3357	3779	3909	3945	4047

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Lens

The Catholic parish church of St-Pierre is a monumental building from 1843. The bell tower and choir have been preserved from the late Gothic predecessor building, which was built by Ulrich Ruffiner from 1535 to 1537 . The latter now serves as a sacristy.

The priory building of the monks of the Great St. Bernard is located next to the church . This was rebuilt between 1835 and 1837. West of the church is a manoir , a stone house from the 16th century.

Lens is dominated by the 1,250  m high Mont Châtelard with its 15-meter high statue of Christ from the year 1935. For footed hikers easy to walk is next to or on the footpath Bisse of Lens, called Le Grand Bisse de Lens , which has its beginning in Icogne , mainly around Mont Châtelard and ending near Chermignon.

The Etang des Miriouges (or Bisse des Miriouges ) below Crans-sur-Sierre, which is fed by a bisse, is surrounded by a very special flora.

Personalities

Lens was the residence of the writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947), who was inspired by this place for his novel Jean-Luc persécuté , as well as the painter Albert Muret (1874–1955), which was written in Lens by the famous composer Igor Stravinsky (1882 –1971) was visited. In Chelin was Pascal Rywalski born (1911-2002), who later Capuchin Minister General was. The canton politician Georgie Lamon (1934-2016) was born in Lens and was the victim of an Islamist terrorist attack.

literature

• Serge Praplan: Lens. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2017 .
• Georgie Lamon : Lens, mon village: la vie associative: reflets et souvenirs. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2006, ISBN 2-88464-722-8 .
• Georgie Lamon: Autour du manoir de Lens: histoire contes et legends. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2009, ISBN 978-2-88464-950-6 .
• Georgie Lamon: Lens, mémoire d'un village: contes, legends et pensées. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2009, ISBN 978-2-88464-995-7 .
• Georgie Lamon: Lens et ses demeures inspirées: document à l'usage des Center scolaires et du public. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2010, ISBN 978-2-940457-57-1 .
• Georgie Lamon, Jean-Luc Theytaz: Le patrimoine de la Commune de Lens. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2012, ISBN 978-2-88924-022-7 .
• Georgie Lamon, Claire-Lise Thimon-Jordan: Portes de Lens et autres récits. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2013, ISBN 978-2-88924-128-6 .
• Georgie Lamon: Lens au fil du temps. Editions à la Carte Sierre, 2014, ISBN 978-2-88924-198-9 .

Web links

Commons : Lens VS  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Lens VS on the ETHorama platform
• Official website of the Municipality of Lens

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 .