Léchelles

Geschichte

Léchelles is a former municipality in the district of Broye, in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland. On 1 September 1994 the former municipality of Chandon merged into the municipality of Léchelles, keeping the name Léchelles. On 1 January 2016, the former municipalities of Domdidier, Dompierre, Léchelles and Russy merged to form Belmont-Broye.HistoryLéchelles is first mentioned in 1243 as Leschieres. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Leitern, however, that name is no longer used.GeographyLéchelles had an area, of 8.8km2. Of this area, 4.82km2 or 55.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.32km2 or 37.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.58km2 or 6.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03km2 or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.7%. Out of the forested land, 36.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 27.9% is used for growing crops and 26.2% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.The former municipality is located in the Broye district, between Fribourg and Payerne. It consists of the linear village of Léchelles and the village of Chandon.