Country Switzerland Elevation 508 m Population 2,750 (Dec 31, 2008) Area 6.87 km2 | District Morges Mayor Syndic
Pierre-Alain Blanc | |
Aubonne is a municipality in the district of Morges in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
Contents
Map of Aubonne
History
The municipality was settled very early. The oldest remains are from the Bronze Age. From Roman times, there remain foundations of villas, and from early medieval times, graves.
The first documentation of the municipality is from 1177 under the name of Albona. In the first half of the 13th century, a defensive wall was built around the town. In 1255, the town was sold to Count Peter II of Savoy. He gave the governing of the town over to the family of Thoire-Villars. Aubonne was the most important town on the north side of the lake between Lausanne and Geneva until the second half of the 15th century. Since the 13th century, it had weekly markets, and starting in 1487 semi-annual three-day markets.
The Count of Greyerz acquired Aubonne in 1393. Since he was allied with the Eidgenossen, the municipality was spared the ravages of the Burgundian Wars in 1476. When the canton of Vaud was conquered by Bern in 1536, Aubonne came under Bernese domination, but still belonged to the Count of Greyerz until 1553.
In 1670, the city was bought by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, and in 1685 by Henri Duquesne, who sold it to Bern again in 1701. From 1798 to 1803 it belonged to the canton of Leman in the Helvetic Republic, which, through the mediation of Napoleon became the canton of Vaud. Aubonne was the capital of its district from 1803 until 2006.
Geography
Aubonne lies at an elevation of 508 m (1,667 ft). 19 km (12 mi) west of Lausanne. It is spread in the valley of the river Aubonne, on the edge of the Jura foothill plateau, about 130 m (430 ft) above the surface of Lake Geneva.
The highest point in the municipality is at an elevation of 643 m (2,110 ft)
The villages of Trevelin and Bougy-Saint-Martin belong to the municipality. The surrounding municipalities are Allaman, Fechy, Pizy, Montherod, Saint-Livres, Lavigny, and Etoy.
Aubonne has an area, as of 2009, of 6.87 square kilometers (2.65 sq mi). Of this area, 4.35 km2 (1.68 sq mi) or 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.97 km2 (0.37 sq mi) or 14.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km2 (0.59 sq mi) or 22.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.05 km2 (12 acres) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.4% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 9.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.6% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.2%. Out of the forested land, 11.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 33.2% is used for growing crops and 8.3% is pastures, while 21.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was the capital of the Aubonne District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Aubonne became part of the new district of Morges.
The municipality of Pizy will merge on 1 July 2011 into the municipality of Aubonne.
Tourism
A wood museum was opened in 1967. The first arboretum in the canton of Vaud was established in 1963 in Aubonne. It has an area of about 200 hectares and features both native and imported trees.
Economy
Aubonne was long an agricultural town. Today, however, agriculture plays a secondary role. Agricultural products of the region include wine.