Page 127 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Switzerland

The sun rising over a verdant vineyard overlooking Lake Geneva

WESTERN

SWITZERLAND

Bordered by France, French-speaking western
Switzerland is known as Suisse Romande, or
Romandie. The region was settled by Gallic Celts,
around 450 BC, and annexed by the Christianized
Burgundians in the 5th century AD. The Burgudians’
language, customs and architecture were swiftly
adoped through out the region, and the French-
Swiss cultural identity remains strong to this day.
Although western Switzerland was taken over
by the German Savoy in the 1100s, the French
connection was such that the borderlands region
of Vaud was placed under the protection of the
governing body in Paris following the French
Revolution. It was only in 1806 that Vaud become
a canton of Switzerland, with Lausanne as its
capital. With relatively easy countryside to
navigate, western Switzerland has attracted
those escaping European conflict. During the
Protestant Reformation, refugees flooded Jura,
setting in motion the country’s now world-famous
watchmaking industry. During the two World Wars,
the region again became a safe harbour for
refugees who made it across Kilometre Zero at
the France-Swiss border. Today these same sunny
hillsides serve as a gateway into this winemaking
region’s more mountainous landscapes.
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