Lausanne

town lake city

LAUSANNE, the chief town of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, lies about 27 miles N.E. of Geneva and 1 mile to the N. of the lake, which used not unfrequently to be called the Lake of Lausanne instead of the Lake of Geneva. It is the junction of the railways to Geneva from Bern and the Rhone valley, and has direct communication with Paris via Pontarlier. A railway worked by a cable connects the town proper with the village and port of Ouchy on the lake. Built on the lower slopes of Mont Jorat, partly on the crests and declivities of three hills and partly in the intervening valleys, Lausanne presents a fine appearance from the water, and in turn enjoys a wide outlook over the Alps of Savoy on the farther side. Modern improvements have largely modified the original characteristics of the site. The Great Bridge, designed by Pichard (1790-1841) and opened to traffic in Oct. 1844 crosses the Flon, and unites the quarters of St Francis and St Lawrence ; and a roadway with easy gradients due to the same engineer tunnels beneath the castle and passes round the city. The Place de Riponne, the most spacious of the public squares and the site of the great corn-market and the Arland museum, is an artificial level secured by massive substructions above the channel of the Louve. Lausanne is rapidly extending in all directions, and especially towards the south and west. The principal building is the cathedral of Notre Dame, which occupies a terrace on the highest hill. It is a good example of plain and massive Gothic, the ground plan a Latin cross, and the interior remarkably simple. The erection is assigned to 1235-1275, and the dedication was performed by Gregory X. in presence of the emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg. To the north of the cathedral on the highest point in the city stands the castle, a structure of the 15th century. The academy, founded by the Bernese authorities in 1589, has numbered among its teachers Theodore Beza, Conrad Lessner, De Crousaz, Vinet, and Juste Olivier. The Arland museum founded in 1846, the blind asylum established by a wealthy Englishman, Mr Haldiman, the penitentiary designed by Pichard, the great cantonal hospital, the theatre, and the cantonal library (80,000 volumes) are among the more noteworthy of the remaining institutions. Besides the well-known Society of Naturalists (established 1841) there are in the town a medical and an historical society (1837). Since the days of Gibbon, whose praises of the town have been often repeated, Lausanne has become a favourite place of residence for foreigners, and an international centre of education. The population was 26,520 (22,610 Protestants, 3517 Roman Catholics) in 1870, and 30,179 in 1880. At the end of the 18th century it was only 9000.

Though Lausanne (Latin, LauS0211211 ; Lausanna in Tab. Pent.) undoubtedly existed at an earlier date, it was when Bishop Marius of Aventicum (c. 593) chose one of its hills as the new seat of his bishopric that its history practically began. The little episcopal city had a rival in an independent German community on the neighbouring hill, but after long struggles the bishop was recognized as official head of the united community, on condition that every year in May he convoked the three estates to the plaid general. This state of matters lasted till the beginning of the 16th century. In 1536 the Bernese deprived the bishops of their temporal authority, transferred most of the goods of the church to the secular domain, and appointed intendants of their own to guide the action of the local magistracy. In this state of pupilage to Bern the city remained till the Revolution, and in 1798 it was made the chief town of the newly constituted canton of Vaud. In 1875 it was chosen as the seat of the supreme court of the Swiss confederation. Among the eminent men born in Lausanne are Benjamin Constant and the Secretans.

See Ludovicus, Chronieon breve Episeoporum Lana., published by Gremaud. in 1856; Schmitt, Mist. du diocese de Lausanne; Bridel, Natdriaux pour sine hist. Litt. de l' Acad. de _Lausanne; the /1/entoircs of the Soc. d'hist. de la Suisse romantic; Rodolphe Bey, Geneve et les rives du Leman, 1875. The Gazette de Lausanne dates from 1798, though its present name was adopted only in 1804.

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Lausanne

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Tweet 9th Edition of Encyclopedia Britannica - free ninth edition online encyclopedia Britannica » Volume 14 [KAO - LON]: Landshut to Water Supply Lausanne town lake city LAUSANNE, the chief town of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, lies about 27 miles N.E. of Geneva and 1 mile to the N. of the lake, which used not unfrequently to be called the Lake of Lausanne instead of the Lake of Geneva. It is the junction of the railways to Geneva from Bern and the Rhone valley, and has direct communication with Paris via Pontarlier. A railway worked by a cable connects the town proper with the village and port of Ouchy on the lake. Built on the lower slopes of Mont Jorat, partly on the crests and declivities of three hills and partly in the intervening valleys, Lausanne presents a fine appearance from the water, and in turn enjoys a wide outlook over the Alps of Savoy on the farther side. Modern improvements have largely modified the original characteristics of the site. The Great Bridge, designed by Pichard (1790-1841) and opened to traffic in Oct. 1844 crosses the Flon, and unites the quarters of St Francis and St Lawrence ; and a roadway with easy gradients due to the same engineer tunnels beneath the castle and passes round the city. The Place de Riponne, the most spacious of the public squares and the site of the great corn-market and the Arland museum, is an artificial level secured by massive substructions above the channel of the Louve. Lausanne is rapidly extending in all directions, and especially towards the south and west. The principal building is the cathedral of Notre Dame, which occupies a terrace on the highest hill. It is a good example of plain and massive Gothic, the ground plan a Latin cross, and the interior remarkably simple. The erection is assigned to 1235-1275, and the dedication was performed by Gregory X. in presence of the emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg. To the north of the cathedral on the highest point in the city stands the castle, a structure of the 15th century. The academy, founded by the Bernese authorities in 1589, has numbered among its teachers Theodore Beza, Conrad Lessner, De Crousaz, Vinet, and Juste Olivier. The Arland museum founded in 1846, the blind asylum established by a wealthy Englishman, Mr Haldiman, the penitentiary designed by Pichard, the great cantonal hospital, the theatre, and the cantonal library (80,000 volumes) are among the more noteworthy of the remaining institutions. Besides the well-known Society of Naturalists (established 1841) there are in the town a medical and an historical society (1837). Since the days of Gibbon, whose praises of the town have been often repeated, Lausanne has become a favourite place of residence for foreigners, and an international centre of education. The population was 26,520 (22,610 Protestants, 3517 Roman Catholics) in 1870, and 30,179 in 1880. At the end of the 18th century it was only 9000. Though Lausanne (Latin, LauS0211211 ; Lausanna in Tab. Pent.) undoubtedly existed at an earlier date, it was when Bishop Marius of Aventicum (c. 593) chose one of its hills as the new seat of his bishopric that its history practically began. The little episcopal city had a rival in an independent German community on the neighbouring hill, but after long struggles the bishop was recognized as official head of the united community, on condition that every year in May he convoked the three estates to the plaid general. This state of matters lasted till the beginning of the 16th century. In 1536 the Bernese deprived the bishops of their temporal authority, transferred most of the goods of the church to the secular domain, and appointed intendants of their own to guide the action of the local magistracy. In this state of pupilage to Bern the city remained till the Revolution, and in 1798 it was made the chief town of the newly constituted canton of Vaud. In 1875 it was chosen as the seat of the supreme court of the Swiss confederation. Among the eminent men born in Lausanne are Benjamin Constant and the Secretans. See Ludovicus, Chronieon breve Episeoporum Lana., published by Gremaud. in 1856; Schmitt, Mist. du diocese de Lausanne; Bridel, Natdriaux pour sine hist. Litt. de l' Acad. de _Lausanne; the /1/entoircs of the Soc. d'hist. de la Suisse romantic; Rodolphe Bey, Geneve et les rives du Leman, 1875. The Gazette de Lausanne dates from 1798, though its present name was adopted only in 1804. Lavagna [next] [back] Laurvik, Or Laurvig Citing this material Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. 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