| Aigle | ||||||||||
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| Population | 7,712 (December 2003[update]) | |||||||||
| - Density | 471 /km2 (1,221 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 16.36 km2 (6.32 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Elevation | 415 m (1,362 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 1860 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 5401 | |||||||||
| Mayor | Frédéric Borloz | |||||||||
| Demonym | Les Aiglons | |||||||||
| Localities | Le Cloître, Vers Pousaz, Fontanney | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Vaud: Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, Ollon; Valais: Vouvry, Collombey-Muraz | |||||||||
| Twin towns | L'Aigle (France), Tübingen (Germany), Bassersdorf (Switzerland) | |||||||||
| Website | www.aigle.ch Profile, SFSO statistics |
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  Aigle
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Aigle is the capital of the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The town has a population of 8,100 people.
The name of this municipality in French means eagle.
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Geography
Aigle lies at an elevation of 415 m. about 13 km south-southeast of Montreux. It is on the east edge of the Rhône valley, at the foot of the Swiss Alps.
In 1997, about 24 percent of the municipality was residential, 38 percent forested, 35 percent agricultrual, and 3 percent mountainous.
Aigle includes the villages of Le Cloître, Vers Pousaz, and Fontanney. The surrounding municipalities are Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, and Ollon in the canton of Vaud, and Vouvry and Collombey-Muraz in the canton of Valais.
History
The municipality was settled very early. Burials and ceramics from the Bronze Age have been discovered. During Roman times, Aigle lay on the road from the Great Saint Bernard pass via Viviscus (Vevey) to Aventicum (Avenches), the Roman capital. The Romans had a number of names for Aigle: Ala (Wing), Alena (Little Wing), Aquilegia and Aquilas (Eagles).
The first medieval mention of the municipality occurs in 1150 under the name of Alium A mention in 1153 gives the name as Aleo. Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV gave the territory of Aigle in 1076 to the house of Savoy. The Abbeys of Great Saint Bernard and Saint-Maurice also had holdings in Aigle, and the latter established a priory, from which the village of Le Cloître takes its name.
In 1231, Aigle was made a market town by Thomas I of Savoy, and in 1314 it was raised to a free city by Amadeus V of Savoy.
It became an important commercial center because of its location on the road to Italy.
It had a common parish with Leysin (until 1702) and with Corbeyrier and Yvorne (until 1831). SInce the 14th century, it had a treaty with Sembrancher in Valais, that committed the two communities for mutual aid in case of war or natural disaster.
In 1475, Aigle was conquered by the canton of Bern, as were also Ollon, Bex, and Les Ormonts. Aigle was thus the first of the French-speaking parts of Switzerland to become subject to Bern and became the seat of the Gouvernement Aigle, which included all of the present district except Villeneuve. In 1528, the Reformation was first preached in Aigle by Guillaume Farel.
From 1798 to 1803, Aigle belonged to the canton of Léman in the Helvetic Republic, which was transformed into the canton of Vaud with the mediation of Napoleon.
In the 19th century, the canton of Vaud was an outspoken opponent of an attempt by a number of cantons to secede from Switzerland. This Catholic separatist movement (Sonderbund) led to intervention in 1847 by 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour against 79,000 separatists in what is called the Sonderbund war. Separation was prevented at the cost of 86 lives. The 1848 Swiss Federal Constitution was created in response of the Sonderbund war.
The Chablais and the Chablais Alps
Chablais was a former province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its historic capital was Thonon-les-Bains. The modern Chablais "region" is three territories: the Chablais Savoyard, the Chablais Valaisan, and the Chablais Vaudois. The Chablais Savoyard is within the department of Haute-Savoie in France, the Chablais Valaisan is in the Swiss canton of Valais, and the Chablais Vaudois is in the Swiss canton of Vaud. The Chablais Alps is the mountain range situated between France and Switzerland.
Culture
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is based in Aigle.
Transportation and the TPC Railways
Aigle is a stop on the Swiss Federal Railway SBB/CFF high speed Simplon line between Italy (Domodossola) and southern Switzerland north to Lausanne and Geneva. At the Aigle SBB/CFF station, connections can be made to three narrow gauge railways. The ASP (Aigle-Sepey-Diablerets) railway goes east from Aigle to the ski resort of Diablerets. The AL (Aigle-Leysin) goes east to the resort and grand vista of Leysin. The AOMC (Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champerey) goes west to the ski resort of Champery.
These railways plus the BVD (Bex-Villars-Bretaye which runs east from Bex, a village south of Aigle) are operated by Transports Publics du Chablais which uses the motto "Depuis plus de cent ans et contre toute attente, des lignes des TPC reunissent plaine et montagne, Vaud et Valais, ville et campagne, terres catholiques et protestantes." Translated roughly: "For over 100 years and contrary to all expectations, the railways of TPC have joined plain and mountain, town and country, of the Vaud and Valais districts of Switzerland, land of both Catholics and Protestants." The ASD, the AL, and the BVB railways operate in the Canton of Vaud, and the AOMC operates into the Canton of Valais when it leaves Aigle and crosses the Rhone river to reach Monthey and Champery. The TPC "motto" refers to the religious composition and history of the region historically known as the Chablais. In 1846-7 the Valais canton tried to secede from Switzerland with the intention of joining a Catholic confederation of cantons, but this was put down by Swiss Federal troops.(cite: reference 2)
The TPC website provides excellent topographical color maps of the four TPC rail lines and route descriptions, although in French. Click on this website: http://www.tpc.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&|temid=94 (and =92, =93, =95 address endings.) See the Bex, Chablais, Vaud, and Valais Wikipedia websites for more information.
Weather
| Weather data for Aigle | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 3.5 (38) |
5.5 (42) |
9.2 (49) |
13.5 (56) |
17.6 (64) |
21.1 (70) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
19.7 (67) |
14.8 (59) |
8.6 (47) |
4.3 (40) |
13.7 (57) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 0 (32) |
1.7 (35) |
4.7 (40) |
8.5 (47) |
12.4 (54) |
15.7 (60) |
18 (64) |
17.1 (63) |
14.1 (57) |
9.5 (49) |
4.3 (40) |
0.7 (33) |
8.9 (48) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -2.8 (27) |
-1.3 (30) |
1.1 (34) |
3.8 (39) |
7.7 (46) |
10.8 (51) |
12.4 (54) |
12 (54) |
9.3 (49) |
5.2 (41) |
1 (34) |
-2 (28) |
4.8 (41) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 70 (2.76) |
67 (2.64) |
78 (3.07) |
75 (2.95) |
87 (3.43) |
111 (4.37) |
99 (3.9) |
114 (4.49) |
81 (3.19) |
80 (3.15) |
89 (3.5) |
81 (3.19) |
1,032 (40.63) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 10.4 | 8.9 | 10.7 | 10.5 | 12.1 | 11.8 | 10 | 11.4 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 10.2 | 10.1 | 122.3 |
| Source: MeteoSchweiz [1] 8 May 2009 | |||||||||||||
Gallery
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References
- ^ "Average Values-Table, 1961-1990" (in German, French, Italian). Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss. http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/de/klima/klima_schweiz/tabellen.html. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.
- 1. VAUD Wikipedia website.
- 2. VALAIS Wikipedia website.
- 3. Sonderbund Wikipedia website
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aigle |
- http://www.aigle.ch/ Official Website of the Commune of Aigle
- Aigle in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- Webcam on the Rue de la Gare
- Les TPC: Transports Publics du Chablais: Website includes color maps
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