Saint-Maurice VS

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

Saint-Maurice
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Valais (VS)
District :	Saint-Maurice
BFS no. :	6217
Postal code :	1890
UN / LOCODE :	CH SMA
Coordinates :	566 493  /  118482 coordinates: 46 ° 13 '1 "  N , 7 ° 0' 16"  O ; CH1903:  five hundred and sixty-six thousand four hundred ninety-three  /  118482
Height :	414  m above sea level M.
Height range :	400-3179 m above sea level M.
Area :	14.92  km²
Residents:	4572 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	306 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.st-maurice.ch
Saint-Maurice
Location of the municipality

Saint-Maurice is a municipal municipality , a civil parish with a civic council and capital of the district of the same name in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais in Switzerland . The north-eastern municipal boundary forms the Rhone , which is also the cantonal border with the canton of Vaud . The German name Sankt Moritz is no longer used today.

In addition to the Saint-Maurice Abbey, Saint-Maurice also has a Capuchin convent and the Augustinian convent founded in 1906 .

coat of arms

Blazon : White clover leaf cross on a blue-red split coat of arms.

history

Saint-Maurice, view of the abbey church

Saint-Maurice was initially the Celtic town of Acauno , which attracted the attention of the Romans because of its strategic location at the entrance to the upper Rhône valley . After the conquest, they set up a military post and a customs post there to collect taxes from traders between Italy and Gaul , because the place was on one of the major trade routes that led over the Mont-Joux Pass from Italy to Germania and Gaul .

Numerous Roman legions were stationed here, of which the so-called Thebaic Legion was particularly well known. Mauritius , the captain of a department that legion, suffered there allegedly with all its troops by the end of the 3rd century the martyr . The remains of Mauritius and his companions were transferred by Bishop Theodor (also: Theodul), the first bishop of Valais, to a sanctuary at the base of the rock near today's town of Saint-Maurice.

If the city contributed to the reputation of the abbey, it was also aware of the dangers posed by its strategic location. There was looting by the Lombards in 574 and by the Saracens in the middle of the 10th century. The place also witnessed the founding of the 2nd Burgundian Empire : Rudolf I was crowned in the abbey in 888. After 1032 the place came under the rule of the Counts of Savoy and received letters of freedom from them in the 13th century. St-Maurice has been the administrative seat of Lower Valais since the end of the 15th century when the Valais conquered the Chablais .

In 1798 the independence of the Valais was proclaimed: the representatives of the Upper and Lower Valais met in Saint Maurice and decided to proclaim the Republic of Valais . Saint Maurice became the district capital. With the intervention of the French Directory (1795–1798), the Valais was incorporated into the Helvetic Republic created by France . The rebellion of Upper Valais against the new order was violently broken by French troops.

Aerial photo (1971)

During the mediation period , Valais first became an independent republic, then part of France. Until 1814, Saint-Maurice was a sub-prefecture of the Simplon department . In 1815, the Valais rejoined the Swiss Confederation and Saint-Maurice became the capital of one of the 13 districts of the new Canton of Valais .

The fortress of Saint-Maurice , along with Sargans and Gotthard, was one of the three major fortress areas of the Swiss Army in the Reduit defense system of the Second World War and during the Cold War.

Even today, Saint-Maurice is the seat of several religious and educational institutions. The place is known for the worship of Mauritius, the basilica and its treasure, the natural grottos and the Saint-Maurice castle with museum.

Since January 1, 2013, the formerly independent municipality of Mex has also been part of the municipality of Saint-Maurice.

Saint-Maurice Abbey

→ Main article : Saint-Maurice Abbey

In 515, King Sigismund of Burgundy commissioned monks to build a monastery here. This date is considered to be the founding of the Saint-Maurice Abbey , which is one of the oldest abbeys in Switzerland.

From the beginning the abbey was a big attraction for pilgrims from Germania, Gaul and Italy. The Merovingian and Carolingian kings showed great interest in this place, as it provided access to the Alpine passes to Italy. The charisma of the abbey not only attracted many pilgrims, but also permanent residents. The history of the place is therefore closely linked to that of the monastery. At the end of the 4th century the place was called Agaune. In the 9th century, the name of Mauritius was added and the place and abbey were called Saint-Maurice d'Agaune from then on.

St. Moritz Pound

There was a mint in Saint-Maurice . Until 1850, their coins were a common measure of money in Valais under the name St. Moritz pound , also Mörsiger pound and Latin : Libra Mauriensis or Libra Mauriciensis .

population

Population development
year	1798	1850	1900	1950	2000	2010	2012	2014	2016
Residents	830	1224	2162	2728	3596	4345	4488	4500	4566

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Saint-Maurice

• The Saint-Maurice castle
• The Chapelle Notre-Dame du Scex
• The Church of St. Sigismond
• The Grotte aux Fées
• The Fort du Scex
• The fortress Cindey

• 

  The Saint-Maurice castle

• 

  Histor. Drawing of the same castle, 1782

• 

  Eglise St. Sigismond

• 

  Chapelle Notre-Dame du Scex

• 

  Rue Saint-François

• 

  Rhone Valley towards Martigny

Educational institutions

• Le Collège de l'Abbaye , goes back to the old monk school from 581 and in its current form can look back on 200 years of history in 2006; more than 1,000 schoolchildren (since 1969)
• Le Collège de la Tuilerie , named after a former brickworks, 450 schoolgirls (since 1987) and schoolchildren
• La Haute école pédagogique (HEP-VS), the educational university of the French-speaking Valais founded in 1994 (German-speaking branch in Brig ), around 160 students (2003)

Partnerships

Saint-Maurice is in partnership with

• Saint-Maurice (Val-de-Marne) , France , in the greater Paris area , since 1957
• Obersiggenthal in the Swiss canton of Aargau , since 2001

Sons and daughters of the church

• Alfons Ambuel (1664–1742), governor of the Valais
• Maurice Barman (1808–1878), politician
• Charles de Morny (1811–1865), French industrialist and politician, probably born in Saint-Maurice VS.
• Camille de Werra (1814–1875), politician
• Albert Luisier (1893–1979), agronomist
• Alexandre Sarrasin (1895–1976), civil engineer
• Alain Pichard (* 1955), teacher, trade unionist (VPOD) and local politician (GLP)
• Mix & Remix , bourgeois Philippe Becquelin (1958–2016), cartoonist and illustrator

See also

• Bois Noir , forest near Saint-Maurice

literature

• Gaëlle Bourguinet Eggs: Saint-Maurice (municipality). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2017 .
• François Wiblé: Saint-Maurice / Acaunus. In: Vallis Poenina. The Valais in Roman times. Exhibition catalog. Walliser Kantonsmuseen, Sitten 1998, ISBN 2-88426-039-0 , pp. 162–164 (on the ancient settlement).
• Bernard Andenmatten (Ed.): L'abbaye de Saint-Maurice d'Agaune 515–2015. Volume 1: Histoire et archeologie. Infolio, Gollion 2015.

Web links

Commons : Saint-Maurice VS  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Saint-Maurice VS on the ETHorama platform
• Official website of the municipality of Saint-Maurice

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. ↑ Latin Acaunus , then Acaunum , finally Agaunum
3. ↑ Great St. Bernhard (Latin Mons Jovis , Mountain of Jupiter)
4. ↑ Saint-Maurice Castle on ETHorama
5. ↑ André Samper: Supplements to the study of the activities of the Redemptorists in the Upper Valais parishes , (PDF) , p 462, footnote 37th
6. ↑ Chapelle de Notre-Dame du Scex on ETHorama
7. ↑ Le Collège de l'Abbaye de Saint-Maurice. = Annales valaisannes 2006.

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