Vich, Switzerland

Vich is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

History

Vich is known to have been a paleolithic settlement, only to have been abandoned in the neolithic, although the area was certainly exploited by people from the settlement of nearby Gland. Although traces from the bronze age have been found in the vicinity, and the site that was to become Vich found itself strategically situated on the Vy de l'Etraz - the Roman paved road (albeit with prehistoric antecedents) from Nyon to Orbe - there is no archaeological evidence or mention of a village until 1165 when the church of Vich (ecclesiam de Vizo) was given by the Lord of Begnins to the Cistercian abbey of Bonmont. The lordship of Vich changed hands several times during the following centuries, from Besançon to Cossonay, Prangins and Savoy, and from 1218 onwards, Vich, and some of its inhabitants, are well-documented.

In 1536 the Pays de Vaud was taken by the Bernese who remained masters until 1798 when the canton was liberated by the French revolutionary troops; and in 1803 Vich found itself part of the Swiss Confederation.