Val de Bagnes is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of Entremont in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

in Switzerland. It is named after the eponymous

Val de Bagnes Val de Bagnes, also called the Vallée de Bagnes (German: Bangital or Baniental) is a valley located in the Entremont District in the Canton of Valais of Switzerland. Geography Val de Bagnes is traversed by the Drance de Bagnes. In the upper p ...

History

On 1 January 2021, the existing political communes of Bagnes and Vollèges merged to form the new political commune of Val de Bagnes.

Bagnes

Bagnes was first mentioned in 1150 as ''Banie''. It was formerly known by its German name, ''Bangis'', although this is no longer used. Before 1150, when it came to the abbey of Saint-Maurice, Bagnes was owned by the

Counts of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...

. It remained under the abbey's authority until 1798, when it became part of the Entremont district. Verbier castle (also called the ''abbaye'') is first mentioned in 1287 in Le Châble and was presumably destroyed in 1476. Throughout the 19th century, the radicals and conservatives feuded violently in the villages. This led, in 1844, to the bloody battle of Corberaye, in which three conservatives were killed. The battle of Corberaye brought the radicals to power, but the conservatives were able gain support from political allies and were able to return to power shortly thereafter. One consequence of this political discord was the founding of the liberal-radical free school in 1900. At the free school there was no religious instruction, in contrast to the other village schools which had been founded by religious groups. The free school remained open until 1943. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

is first mentioned in 1178, with the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

at St. Martin's church in Le Châble. The parsonage was built in 1686 at Verbier. It became a rectory in 1915 and a parish in 1962. Other chapels are located in Montagnier (14th century), Sarreyer (after 1639), Lourtier (1659), Vernays (1661), Media (1679), Champsec (1684) and Versegères (1684). The municipality suffered from frequent natural disasters, especially from the floods of the Dranse in 1469, 1595 and a particularly devastating flood in 1818. There were

silver mines Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...

in the area between 1344-1723 and again in 1852-55. In 1958 the Lac de Mauvoisin Dam was built. The dam along with increasing tourism in the mid-20th Century changed the character of the villages dramatically. The village economies changed from alpine farming to domination by the services sector. Until 1957 Bagnes was a loose federation of villages, which was divided into districts or sections. The local councils continued to represent their sections until 1971.

Le Châble

Le Châble was the capital of the former municipality of Bagnes. Starting in the 12th Century, Le Châble was the administrative center of the entire Val de Bagnes. Verbier castle (also called the ''abbaye'') is first mentioned in 1287. The castle came to be known as the ''abbaye'' since it was the seat of the abbey of Saint-Maurice's representative. In 1410 the castle was rebuilt into a residence of the abbots. In 1476 it was partially destroyed by the villagers. In 1745 it was besieged during the revolt against the abbot of Saint-Maurice. The castle was acquired in the 20th Century by the municipality. The facade of the late

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

parish church of St. Mauritius was built in 1520 and the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

was finished in 1534. The

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

dates back to 1560 and the parish house to the 16th century. In 1953, the village was connected to the Martigny-Sembrancher-Le Châble rail line.

Geography

After the merger, Val de Bagnes has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey), of .

Demographics

The new municipality has a population () of .

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = height:350 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:10000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 Colors= id:BA value:yellowgreen legend:Bagnes id:VO value:green legend:Vollèges PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:4278 text:"4278" color:BA bar:1860 from: 0 till:4327 text:"4327" color:BA bar:1870 from: 0 till:4266 text:"4266" color:BA bar:1880 from: 0 till:4257 text:"4257" color:BA bar:1888 from: 0 till:4233 text:"4233" color:BA bar:1900 from: 0 till:4127 text:"4127" color:BA bar:1910 from: 0 till:4062 text:"4062" color:BA bar:1920 from: 0 till:3997 text:"3997" color:BA bar:1930 from: 0 till:3722 text:"3722" color:BA bar:1941 from: 0 till:3601 text:"3601" color:BA bar:1950 from: 0 till:3609 text:"3609" color:BA bar:1960 from: 0 till:4237 text:"4237" color:BA bar:1970 from: 0 till:4541 text:"4541" color:BA bar:1980 from: 0 till:4652 text:"4652" color:BA bar:1990 from: 0 till:5107 text:"5107" color:BA bar:2000 from: 0 till:6536 text:"6536" color:BA bar:2010 from: 0 till:7787 text:"7787" color:BA bar:1850 from: 4278 till:5147 text:"869" color:VO bar:1860 from: 4327 till:5209 text:"882" color:VO bar:1870 from: 4266 till:5230 text:"964" color:VO bar:1880 from: 4257 till:5215 text:"958" color:VO bar:1888 from: 4233 till:5176 text:"943" color:VO bar:1900 from: 4127 till:5037 text:"910" color:VO bar:1910 from: 4062 till:5042 text:"980" color:VO bar:1920 from: 3997 till:4971 text:"974" color:VO bar:1930 from: 3722 till:4679 text:"957" color:VO bar:1941 from: 3601 till:4613 text:"1012" color:VO bar:1950 from: 3609 till:4602 text:"993" color:VO bar:1960 from: 4237 till:5243 text:"1006" color:VO bar:1970 from: 4541 till:5497 text:"956" color:VO bar:1980 from: 4652 till:5676 text:"1024" color:VO bar:1990 from: 5107 till:6313 text:"1206" color:VO bar:2000 from: 6536 till:7845 text:"1309" color:VO bar:2010 from: 7787 till:9368 text:"1581" color:VO

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Alpage'' (alpine pasture) de Louvie and the Church of St-Maurice with

and the former rectory are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The villages of Bruson, Le Châble, Médières, Sarreyer and Vollèges along with the hamlets of Fontenelle and Vens are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

References

{{Authority control Cultural property of national significance in Valais Municipalities of Valais 2021 establishments in Switzerland