Ballens

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Ballens
Canton	Vaud
District	Aubonne
Coordinates	46°33′N, 06°22′E
Population	375 (2003)
Area	8.47 km²
Elevation	707 m
Postal code	1144
SFOS number	5423
Website	www.ballens.ch
Ballens

Ballens is a municipality in the district of Aubonne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

1 Geography
2 Population
3 Economy
4 Transportation
5 History
6 Attractions
7 External links

Ballens is located at 707 m above mean sea level (AMSL), 11 km northwest of the city of Morges (as the crow flies). It is a scattered village, spread out over a knoll on a plateau at the foot of the Jura Mountains.

The municipality has an area of 8.5 km², and contains a section of the western edge of the Swiss Plateau. The municipality stretches from the foot of the Jura Mountains eastward over the valley lowlands of the Veyron River and the rise that Ballens sits on and then to the dry river valley of Grand Marais in the east. This wide, flat valley serves as a channel for melt water from the Rhône Glacier, a remnant from the Ice Age. In the south there is a forest, Le Sépey, which contains, at 729 m AMSL, is the highest point in Ballens. In the far southeast of the municipality there is a part of the forest Les Bougeries (at 704 m AMSL). The land in the municipality is comprised as follows (as of 1997): 5% residential, 30% woodland and forests, 64% agricultural and a little less than 1% is unproductive land.

The hamlet Froidevill (685 m AMSL) is a part of Ballens, located on the western edge of the Grand Marais valley. The municipalities which border Ballens are Bière, Berolle, Mollens, Apples and Yens.

With 394 residents (as of the end of 2005), Ballens is one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Vaud. 88.0% of the popuation is French-speaking, 5.6% speak German, and 5.0% speak Portuguese (as of 2000). In 1850 the population of Ballens was 422 and in 1900 it had dropped to 361. Since then it has remained between 350 and 400.

Until the middle of the 20th century Ballens was predominately an agriculture village. Today agriculture still plays an important roll in the lives of its residents. They concentrate mainly on cultivation and cattle breeding, as it pertains to dairy farming. Thanks to the good transportation options, some construction businesses, a blacksmith shop and a bookbinding shop have more to Ballens. More people are also employed in the service sector.

The municipality is very accessible by public transport. It is located on the main road that runs from Morges to Bière. On July 1, 1895 the light railway Chemin de fer Bière-Apples-Morges began service to a station in Ballens.

A tumulus from the Hallstatt time period was found near Ballens. The first record of Ballens is from 1139 under the name Barlens. In 1453 the spelling Balens appeared. In the Middle Ages Ballens was the center of a small dominion which was under the control of the Romainmôtier monastery and the lords of Aubonne. After the capture of Vaud by Bern in 1536 Ballens shared in the fate of Aubonne and in 1701 it became part of the district of Aubonne. After the collapse of the Ancien régime the village belonged to the canton of Léman from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic. It finally became a part of the canton of Vaud as a part of a treaty. In 1798 Ballens was assigned to the district of Morges, and in 1803 it became part of the district of Aubonne.

The Saint Maurice church was first mentioned in 1139. The building has been remodeled many times; the bell tower was added in 1715. In the old city center there are traditional farmhouses from the 16th century to the 19th century.