Les Clées

Les Clées
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Vaud (VD)
District :	Jura north vaudois
BFS no. :	5750
Postal code :	1356
Coordinates :	525410  /  176043 coordinates: 46 ° 43 '53 "  N , 6 ° 27' 46"  O ; CH1903:  525410  /  176043
Height :	610  m above sea level M.
Height range :	515–871 m above sea level M.
Area :	7.04  km²
Residents:	185 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	26 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.lesclees.ch
Aerial view of Les Clées
Location of the municipality

Les Clées ([ le kle ], in the native Franco-Provencal dialect [ ɛ ˈçʎɛjɛ ]) is a municipality in the Jura-Nord vaudois district of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland .

geography

Les Clées is located at 610  m above sea level. M. , 5 km west of Orbe and 15 km west-southwest of the district capital Yverdon-les-Bains (beeline). The village extends on a ledge to the left of the Orbe , in a small valley widening in the area of ​​the Gorges de l'Orbe on the edge of the Jura and at the southern foot of the Suchet .

The area of ​​the community area of ​​7.0 km² comprises a narrow section in the area of ​​the deeply cut Orbetal. The valley slopes are partially crossed by ledges. To the west, the municipality extends to the forest slope Pré Caraudy , where at 870  m above sea level. M. the highest point of Les Clées is reached. To the east the area extends into the protected Gorges de l'Orbe . In the northeast, Les Clées includes part of the Jura foot plateau sloping to the east with the Chassagne forest . In 1997, 5% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 70% for forests and woodlands, 24% for agriculture and a little more than 1% was unproductive land.

Les Clées includes the hamlet of La Russille ( 692  m above sea level ) on the Jura foot plateau above the Chassagne forest and a few individual farms. Neighboring municipalities to Les Clées are Agiez , Bretonnières , Premier , Vallorbe , Ballaigues , Lignerolle , L'Abergement , Sergey and Montcherand .

population

With 185 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Les Clées is one of the small communities in the canton of Vaud. 94.2% of the residents are French-speaking, 3.9% German-speaking and 1.3% speak Serbo-Croatian (as of 2000). The population of Les Clées was 222 in 1850 and 228 in 1900. After that it halved to 115 inhabitants by 1970, since then an increase in population has been observed again.

economy

Les Clées is still an agricultural village with some agriculture and cattle breeding . Thanks to the large proportion of forest in the municipality, wood processing was also important until the 1970s. The local small business offers a few more jobs. Pig iron was smelted in a furnace from the 15th to the 18th century. A hydropower plant that was in operation from 1892 to 1965 was replaced by an underground facility.

traffic

The community is now off the main roads on a connection from Baulmes to Romainmôtier-Envy . The A9 motorway with several Lehnen viaducts has been running on the northern slope of the Orbe valley since 1989 . The Postbus course that runs from Orbe to Vallorbe has a stop near the hamlet of La Russille.

history

Already in Roman times the road led over the Jougnepass at Les Clées over the Orbe, presumably there was once a Roman camp here, which was called Cletae and castrum ad Claves . The name refers to a place on a narrow passage.

More recently, Les Clées was first mentioned in 1134 under the name Clees ; In 1268 the name Cloies appeared . The bridge over the Orbe was probably fortified as early as 1050. In the course of the 12th century the rule of Les Clées developed, which was bestowed on the Counts of Geneva in 1232 by the Dukes of Burgundy . In 1260 it came to Savoy . The rule initially comprised eight surrounding villages. From the 15th century to 1566, the entire Vallée de Joux also belonged to Les Clées.

A small town gradually emerged around the castle, which was given urban freedom by the Counts of Savoy in 1272. In the period that followed, Les Clées experienced a heyday thanks to the taking of road tolls. Above the old town (Bourg vieux), the new town called Bourg neuf developed towards the end of the 13th century. During the Burgundian Wars, the town was conquered and destroyed by the Confederates in 1475 .

With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536, Les Clées became a Kastlanei under the Bailiwick of Yverdon. The town gradually began to decline. After the collapse of the Ancien Régime , Les Clées 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 . It was assigned to the Orbe district in 1798.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Les Clées

The chapel at the former north gate was mentioned in the 14th century. The current construction dates from 1738 to 1740, with the tower being rebuilt in its original form. No remains of the three former city gates are visible, while individual parts of the walling have been preserved. On an isolated hill above the Orbe are the remains of the former castle, which was destroyed in 1475. The massive, square keep from the 13th century, which was restored during the 19th century, has been preserved. A stone bridge from 1764 leads over the Orbe.

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  Church of Les Clées

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  Castle hill

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  Church of La Russille

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  Bridge on the A9 motorway between Les Clées and La Russille

Web links

Commons : Les Clées  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Les Clées (French)
• Guy Le Comte: Clées, Les. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Aerial photography
• Le château des Clées (French)

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 . 
2. ↑ Florence Cattin, Les Clées VD (Orbe) in: Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses - Lexicon of Swiss community names - Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS | LSG) , Center de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld / Stuttgart / Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7193-1308-5 and Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, ISBN 2-601-03336-3 , p. 525.