Riex

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Vaud (VD)

District :

Lavaux-Oron

Municipality :

Bourg-en-Lavaux

Postal code :

1097

former BFS no. :

5608

Coordinates :

546 043 / 149 357 coordinates: 46 ° 29 '36 " N , 6 ° 44' 9" O ; CH1903: five hundred and forty-six thousand and forty-three / one hundred and forty-nine thousand three hundred fifty-seven

Height :

443 m above sea level M.

Area :

1.37 km²

Residents:

269 (December 31, 2010)

Population density :

196 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.riex.ch

map

Parish before the merger on June 30, 2011

Until July 1, 2011, Riex was a municipality in the Lavaux-Oron district in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland . It merged with Cully , Epesses , Grandvaux and Villette (Lavaux) to form the new political municipality of Bourg-en-Lavaux .

geography

Aerial view, Riex in the foreground (1954)

Riex is 443 m above sea level. M. , nine kilometers east-southeast of the canton capital of Lausanne (as the crow flies). The winegrowing village extends over a small area in the middle of the vineyards on the steep slope of Lavaux , on the southern slope of Mont de Gourze in a panoramic position around 70 m above lake level of Lake Geneva .

The area of the 1.4 km² municipal area comprises a section of the Lavaux on the north-eastern shore of Lake Geneva. Riex does not have a lake streak itself. The community soil extends as a narrow strip from the foot of the vineyards northwards over the slope from Riex to the Mont de Gourze , on which at 925 m above sea level. M. the highest point of Riex is reached. The watershed between the catchment areas of the Rhine and the Rhone runs over the Mont de Gourze, only around 2 km north of the shores of Lake Geneva . The western boundary of the municipality is the Champaflon (Dorfbach von Riex); in the east the area extends partially to the Rio d'Enfer . In 1997, 13% of the municipal area was in settlements, 10% in forests and woodlands, 76% in agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Riex, partial view from the east

Riex has several individual farms on the heights of Mont de Gourze. Neighboring municipalities to Riex are Cully , Forel (Lavaux) and Epesses .

population

With 269 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2010), Riex was one of the small communities in the canton of Vaud. Of the residents, 86.3% are French-speaking, 7.0% German-speaking and 2.3% Portuguese-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Riex was 349 in 1900. After a slight decrease at the beginning of the 20th century, the population has remained stable since 1960.

economy

Until the second half of the 20th century, Riex was predominantly an agricultural village. Even today, viticulture on the perfectly sunny slopes of Lavaux (around 42 hectares) has an important place in the income structure of the population. Quality wines of the Epesses, Villette, Dézaley and Calamin appellations are produced in Riex . Agriculture and animal husbandry predominate on the plateaus . Further jobs are available in local small businesses and especially in the service sector (wine cellars and wine shops). In the last few decades the village has also developed into a residential community. Many workers are commuters who work primarily in Lausanne and the Vevey - Montreux region.

traffic

Although Riex is off the through streets, it is still well developed in terms of traffic. A connecting road from Cully to Chexbres runs through Riex . The next motorway connection to the A9 (Lausanne-Sion), which opened in 1974 and crosses the former municipal area, is at Chexbres, around 4 km from the village. Riex is connected to the public transport network by a post bus that runs from Cully via Chexbres to the Puidoux-Chexbres train station.

history

The place was first mentioned in a document in 1053 under the name Rualdo . Later the names Ruais (1226), Ruas (1238), Ruex (1246), then Riex and in 1906 the spelling Riez was also used.

Riex belonged to the Bishop of Lausanne since 1246. With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536, the village came under the administration of the Bailiwick of Lausanne . After the collapse of the Ancien Régime , Riex 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 Lavaux district.

Riex was always dependent on Villette. It was not until 1824, when the large municipality of Villette was divided, that Riex achieved the status of an independent political municipality. A first project to merge the five previously independent municipalities of Cully, Epesses, Riex, Grandvaux and Villette (Lavaux) initially failed in a vote on February 27, 2005 due to resistance from the people of Grandvaux.

However, this merger was completed on July 1, 2011. The new political municipality now operates under the name Bourg-en-Lavaux .

Attractions

Wine cellar and chapel of Saint-Théodule in Riex

Thanks to the Law for the Protection of Lavaux, Riex has retained its original shape as a compact wine-growing village with old buildings, surrounded by vineyards. In the middle of the village is the Saint-Théodule chapel, the core of which dates back to the 15th century and was later modified several times. In the village, the Maison Blanche (1790), the Maison de Commune (1814) and the Maison Henchoz (1805) as well as five beautiful fountains are to be highlighted. The Tour de Gourze observation tower on the 925 m high Mont de Gourze offers a beautiful panorama of the Lake Geneva basin, the Alps and the Jura. The Tour de Gourze was probably built as an observation post in the 11th century.

Web links

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

Official website of Riex (French)
Aerial views of the village
Emmanuel Abetel: Riex. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .