Collombey-Muraz

Geschichte

Collombey-Muraz is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. There is an oil refinery in the town.HistoryCollombey is first mentioned in 1263 as de Columberio. Muraz was mentioned in 1283 as de Mura.A 14km long canal, Stockalper Canal was built in the 17th century by Baron Kaspar Stockalper, at that time master of salt in Valais, to connect Collombey-Muraz to Lake Geneva and transport the imported salt in a cheap and convenient way.GeographyCollombey-Muraz has an area, of 29.8km2. Of this area, 11.21km2 or 37.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 11.99km2 or 40.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.72km2 or 12.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.7km2 or 2.3% is either rivers or lakes and 2.19km2 or 7.3% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 5.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 24.8% is used for growing crops and 1.9% is pastures and 10.3% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.5% is in lakes and 1.8% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 4.0% is unproductive vegetation and 3.4% is too rocky for vegetation.The municipality is located in the Monthey district, on the left bank of the Rhone river. It consists of the villages of Collombey-le-Grand, Collombey-le-Petit, Muraz and Illarsaz.