Gruyères

Geschichte

Gruyères is a town in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Its German name is Greyerz.The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane river, and gives its name to Gruyère cheese. The medieval town is located at the top of 82 metre-high hill overlooking the Saane valley and the Lake of Gruyère.GeographyGruyères has an area, of 28.4km2. Of this area, 11.5km2 or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 14.18km2 or 50.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.55km2 or 5.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.24km2 or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.92km2 or 3.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 46.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.6% is used for growing crops and 12.9% is pastures and 22.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.Gruyères is 810m above sea level, 4.5km south-south-east of the district capital Bulle. The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson. It is also the location where the Saane river (French name: Sarine) leaves the Fribourg alps.The area of the municipality comprises a section of the Saane valley and of the Fribourg alps. The central part of the area is the plains of Alluvial (690m above sea level) next to the alps, between Gruyères and Broc, from which the hill of Gruyères rises to 828m above sea level. From the west, the brook Trême meets the Saane. East of the Saane, the municipality area ends in a small corner, bordered by the ridges of Dent de Broc (1829m above sea level) in the north and Dent du Chamois (1830m above sea level) in the south, ending at the valley of Motélon. The two peaks with their saddle between them are a popular subject for photographs of Gruyères.