Avenches

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Avenches
Canton	Vaud
District	Avenches
Coordinates	46°53′N, 7°02′E
Population	2,699 (2004)
Area	17.5 km²
Elevation	480 m
Postal code	1580 Avenches 1582 Donatyre
SFOS number	5451
Website	www.avenches.ch
Localities	Donatyre
Surrounded by	Faoug, Villarepos (FR), Misery-Courtion (FR), Oleyres, Domdidier (FR), Saint-Aubin (FR), Villars-le-Grand, Montmagny, Constantine
Avenches

Avenches is a Swiss municipality in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Avenches, of which it is the capital.

Avenches is located on a hill, isolated in the Broye valley, 12 km north-west of Fribourg. The village Donatyre (505 m), south of Avenches, belongs to the municipality of Avenches, partly until 2006, and entirely since the municipality of Donatyre merged with Avenches.

Avenches is built on the site of the Roman town Aventicum, which was the most important in Switzerland.

The official language is French, spoken by 73.4% of the population, 12.9% of the population speaks German and 6.0% Portuguese (2000).

Roman amphitheater in Avenches.

The roots of Avenches go back to the Celts. A tribe of Helvetians had built a settlement on the hills of Bois de Châtel, south of the later Roman settlement.

The establishment of the Roman settlement of Aventicum, which became the capital of the province, took place around 15-13 B.C. The name comes from the Helvetian spring goddess Aventia. Aventicum soon developed into a blooming commercial center with 20,000 inhabitants. The area was plundered by the Alamann tribe after the fall of Rome in the third century. A new walled settlement was built in the fifth century. Throughout this period, the town remained the seat of a bishopric and had at least two churches (Saint-Martin and Saint-Symphorian). When the bishop moved his seat to Lausanne in the sixth century, the decline of the city began.

In 1074, the Bishop of Lausanne, Burkhard von Oltigen founded a new city on the site and named it Adventica, which became Avenche in 1518. In the 11th century, it was surrounded by a wall, and it received city rights in 1259.

A German name for the town did not appear until the 13th century, and it is neither a translation of the Latin, nor a germanized form of the French. In 1266 the form Wibilsburg appears, and then Wipelspurg (1302), Wibelspurg (1458), Wiblispurg (1476), Wiflispurg (1548), and Wiflisburg (1577). This is derived from the personal name Wibili.

The town made a treaty in 1239 with Fribourg and one in 1353 with Murten.

With the Bernese conquest of Vaud in 1536, Avenches came under Bernese domination. In 1798, it became part of the Helvetic canton of Fribourg. In 1801, the population pushed for incorporation into the canton of Léman in the Helvetic Republic. With the mediation of Napoleon in 1803, Avenches became part of the canton of Vaud and capital of its district.

In 1826 a colony of Jews from Alsace settled in Avenches. They were primarily horse traders and built a synagogue in 1865. When economic circumstances worsened at the end of the 19th century the Jews left the city and the synagogue, which was no longer in use, was torn down in 1954.

An airfield was built on the flat land north of the municipality in 1910. During World War I, it served as a military airfield. When the military airport in Payerne was built in 1921, the field in Avenches was closed.

On July 1, 2006, the municipality incorporated Donatyre vollzoge.