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Mestral Castle
The Castle of Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges, also called Mestral Castle, is a castle in the municipality of Echichens of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History The current castle was built on the ruins of an old feudal castle which consisted of two buildings divided by a courtyard: one of them served as a dungeon while the other was used as housing for the local lord. In 1727, General François-Louis de Pesmes de Saint-Saphoriafter a career as a soldier and a diplomat, retired to Saint-Saphorin where he was born. Previously, he had the castle rebuilt, which already belonged to his family, on the model of that of Vullierens Castle, Vullierens. His daughter, Judith-Louise, married Gabriel-Henri de Mestral, then Lord of Pampigny. The castle took the name of Mestral, and among the successive owners, the engineer Georges de Mestral, inventor of Velcro, inherited it on the death of his father in 1966. Viticulture The castle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Échichens
Echichens is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges. The municipalities of Colombier, Monnaz and Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges merged on 1 July 2011 into the municipality of Echichens.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17 February 2011 History Echichens is first mentioned in 1131 as ''Chichens''. Colombier is first mentioned in 937 as ''Columbaris''. Monnaz is first mentioned in 1200 as ''Monna''. In 1221 it was mentioned as ''Muna''. Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges is first mentioned in 1171 as ''Sancti Simphoriani''.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; from a ''pleasance'' which was a walled-in residence for nobility, but not adequately fortified; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Use of the term has varied over time and has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th-20th century homes built to resemble castles. Over the approximately 900 years when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Municipalities Of Switzerland
Municipalities (german: Gemeinden, ' or '; french: communes; it , comuni; rm, vischnancas) are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons, municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,136 municipalities . Their populations range between several hundred thousand (Zürich), and a few dozen people (Kammersrohr, Bister), and their territory between 0.32 km² (Rivaz) and 439 km² (Scuol). History The beginnings of the modern municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Echichens
Echichens is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges. The municipalities of Colombier, Monnaz and Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges merged on 1 July 2011 into the municipality of Echichens.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17 February 2011 History Echichens is first mentioned in 1131 as ''Chichens''. Colombier is first mentioned in 937 as ''Columbaris''. Monnaz is first mentioned in 1200 as ''Monna''. In 1221 it was mentioned as ''Muna''. Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges is first mentioned in 1171 as ''Sancti Simphoriani''.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canton Of Vaud
Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green bicolour. Vaud is the third largest canton of the country by population and fourth by size. It is located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of the country; and borders the canton of Neuchâtel to the north, the cantons of Fribourg and Bern to the east, the canton of Valais to the south, the canton of Geneva to the south-west and France to the west. The geography of the canton includes all three natural regions of Switzerland: the Jura Mountains, the Swiss Plateau and the (Swiss) Alps. It also includes some of the largest lakes of the country: Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchâtel. It is a major tourist destination, renowned for its landscapes and gastronomy. The largest city is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen a.o.). , coordinates = , largest_city = Zürich , official_languages = , englishmotto = "One for all, all for one" , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , religion = , demonym = , german: Schweizer/Schweizerin, french: Suisse/Suissesse, it, svizzero/svizzera or , rm, Svizzer/Svizra , government_type = Federalism, Federal assembly-independent Directorial system, directorial republic with elements of a direct democracy , leader_title1 = Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Walter Thurnherr , legislature = Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morges
Morges (; la, Morgiis, plural, probably ablative, else dative; frp, Môrges) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud and the seat of the district of Morges. It is located on Lake Geneva. History Morges is first mentioned in 1288 as ''Morgia''. It was known by its German name ''Morsee'' though that name is no longer used. Prehistory There were several prehistoric settlements along what is now the Morges lakefront. The largest and best known, ''Grande-Cité'', was occupied in the late Bronze Age. One of the wooden objects at Grande-Cité has been dendrochronologically dated to 1031 BC. Many of the stilts and building structures have been preserved in situ. A dugout of oak was discovered near the settlement and in 1877 half of it was recovered and placed in the Musée d'histoire et d'art in Geneva. About a hundred meters (yards) further north is the village of Vers-l'Eglise. The first settlement here dates back to the Neolithic, based on a layer of ceramic objects that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vullierens Castle
Vullierens Castle is a castle in the municipality of Vullierens in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. An estate of over one hundred hectares, owned by the same family for over 700 years either by marriage or inheritance. History The first fortified house, also called Château-Vieux, was built on the hill of Vullierens above Morges in 1308 by Pierre de Duin, from a branch of the lords of Duin de Châtel de Conflans, originally from Geneva. It was in the form of a Savoyard square protected by two enclosures of which only two towers still remain. The present castle was built between 1706 and 1712 by Gabriel-Henri de Mestral as a country residence with numerous outbuildings, including a theatre. He had received the estate following a legal action, his uncle, the former owner, having initially chosen to donate it to one of his cousins Bernard de Budé. The estate remained in the Mestral family until the end of the 19th century w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pampigny
Pampigny is a former municipality in the district of Morges in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 July 2021 the former municipalities of Apples, Cottens, Pampigny, SĂ©very, Bussy-Chardonney and Reverolle merged into the new municipality of Hautemorges. History Pampigny is first mentioned in 1141 as ''Pampiniaco''. Geography Pampigny had an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges De Mestral
George de Mestral () was a Swiss electrical engineer who invented the hook and loop fastener which he named Velcro. Biography He was born to Albert de Mestral, an agronomist engineer, and Marthe de Goumoëns in Saint Saphorin sur Morges, near Lausanne, Switzerland. De Mestral designed a toy airplane at age twelve and patented it. He attended the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). After graduation in 1930, he worked in the machine shop of an engineering company. He went for his favorite hobby of hunting and when he came back he discovered that his dog was covered with burs that had attached themselves to its fur. He then worked on inventing hook and loop fasteners for ten years starting in 1948. In 1955 he successfully patented hook and loop, eventually selling 60 million yards (about 55,000 km) a year through a multimillion-dollar company. Marriage George was married three times: in 1932 to Jeanne Schnyder (two sons: Henri and François), in 1949 to Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velcro
Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fasteners, which de Mestral invented. History Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral invented his first touch fastener when, in 1941, he went for a walk in the Alps, and wondered why burdock seeds clung to his woolen socks and coat, and also his dog Milka. He discovered it could be turned into something useful. He patented it in 1955, and subsequently refined and developed its practical manufacture until its commercial introduction in the late 1950s. The fastener consisted of two components: a lineal fabric strip with tiny hooks that could 'mate' with another fabric strip with smaller loops, attaching temporarily, until pulled apart. Initially made of cotton, which proved impractical, the fastener was eventually constructed with nylon a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
